The Multi-talented Daniel Setshedi

The Multi-talented Daniel Setshedi

 

The only information we knew as we walked to the construction site was that he was a tradesmen more specifically a brick layer, other than that we knew nothing and it would be nice to finally put a name to a face.

We watch him as he slowly walked towards us; there he stood before us in all his dusty glory Mr. Mokete Daniel Setshedi. He came across as a kind; soft spoken man originally from Warmbaths (Bela-Bela). We were intrigued to find out how a man from Limpopo found his way to Pretoria, with over 25 years of bricklaying experience it was an honour to be standing next to such a man. Although he is usually underrated, he is probably the reason behind the quality of many home walls and maybe my own.

We start the interview with the loud, cluttered sound of machines in the back ground we introduce ourselves and finally he introduces himself but with all the busy machinery behind us we hardly hear a thing, Valerian asks him to speak a little louder and so he does and introduces himself as Mr. Daniel Mokete Setshedi.

He smiles as he reminisces about his good old days before he got to Pretoria” I don’t remember his full name but I know he was Mr. van Staaden”, We later realize that Mr. van Staaden is the man that taught him what he needed to know about building, bricklaying and plastering. He chuckles as he begins to tell us the story of how he became a brick layer.

 Mr. Setshedi is a man of many talents and loves what he does. He has always been a hard working; selfless man who always found a way to provide for his family, he started working at a young age first as a gardener in Warmbaths. Times where difficult for him and his family so he made the selfless decision to leave school at the tender age of 13 to try and find a job that would enable him to help his parents make ends meet.

Mr. van Staaden, the man that took him at the tender age of 13 taught him all he needs to know about brick laying and later plastering after gaining knowledge from Mr. van Staaden he moved to Hamanskraal seeking bigger and better opportunities and worked his way to where his is now.

His day begins with him checking if the site is suitable for people to work on and to report any faults he can find; with many years of experience he still takes his job very seriously. His brick laying skills are incredible and this only comes with experience.

It felt like 5 minutes but it had been 15 minutes already as his supervisor asks for him, we think because he is one of the fastest workers on site. More experienced men on site and his supervisor needs him back as soon as possible. We wrap things up by asking a few more questions. The one question we asked that still resonates in our minds, not because of the question but because of the answer he gave, we asked him if he would ever go back to school to get a degree and better his qualifications and his answer was quick and simple he said ‘I wouldn’t go back to school because my time  for school has passed and it is my responsibility to make sure the younger kids of my family go to school and get jobs so they don’t have to work so hard for so little pay”

A couple of more questions and we ended the interview with one of the most resilient men we’ve ever met.

We as a group have learnt so much from this man and feel blessed to have met him. We have the utmost respect for this tender soul who we now look at as a role model, he has tough us to work hard and to always put our best foot forward.