Interview with two extraordinary skilled workers

Photo of Adriaan Joubert on site

A story about a young electrician

 Adriaan Joubert is a 30 year old electrician who grew up in Roodepoort, Johannesburg and matriculated from Hoërskool Florida in 2003. Although he did not attend university, he went to work for his father’s company as an untrained electrician, this is also where he learned all his knowledge and gained his trade of being a qualified electrician.

Adriaan’s biggest responsibilities as an electrician is to set up a COC document and then take it to the municipality for approval, as well as ensuring the safety of his workers while they are devotedly busy to complete the specific project at hand. His biggest challenge in the workplace is to always keep the workers motivated and to actually get them to show up for work to complete the specific goals set out for each day.

He stepped into the profession not only because he wanted to follow his father’s footsteps but also because he has a passion for it. Adriaan was the most proud electrician when he finished the electricity for his own home, he now has a daily reminder of which impact his job has on the society. “The key to success in this profession is to work your fingers off”, says Adriaan. He’s also very proud when a project is finally completed and he can see the hard work that has gone into the project pays off.

Adriaan adds that he is flattered we came to interview him, because he sees that we realize how important his job is and which impact it has on the society.

We talked to Jacques van der Merwe, the man behind it all when it comes to plumbing.

Photo of Jacques van der Merwe's workers

As a Plumber his duties on site is to ensure that the water and sewage connection is up to standard as set out by the SANS guide. His responsibilities on site is to receive a certificate of compliance for the plumbing connections of the building issued by the building inspector as he wil do an open drain inspection to ensure the plumbing work is up to standard.

Jacques van der Merwe grew up in Westdene JHB and finished school at John Orr Tech in 1983.  He completed his trademanship at Olifanstfontein training college while busy with his appyship at Gandy Plumbers, he also received his drain layer lisence in the following years to come. The people who played the most important roles in his plumbing career was his mother as she motivated him to become an entrepreneur and start up his own plumbing business. His brother also played a big role in the beginning of his career by advising him regarding the managing of his workers and the planning of projects ahead of time.

According to him his daily problems he has to deal with is ensuring his workers pitch up for work and that they work efficiently and effectively to complete the job on time. He takes great pride in his work and convincingly says that he is available anytime time of the day or night as customer service is crucial to the success of his business he also adds that the most rewarding part of his job is to see the whole plumbing system running fluently and according to spec.