Kosie Adriaan
“I am so proud of him,” says Derik Thokoane, manager of works, about Kosie Adriaan.
Kosie, another of the Grade 1 Supervisors, is one of the longest-serving employees at GIB. He was appointed to a permanent position in August of 2005, having done contract work for the board for about five years before that.
He and his team perform various general maintenance functions, including the fixing of cracked or leaking pipes. They attend to the specialised task of herbicidal dosing of invading alien vegetation on the canal system. They are also involved in the dosage of algae in the canal, which keeps the water clean.
Kosie lives in Patensie with his wife and three children – all of them girls. His daughters attend Nico Malan High School, Langkloof Primary and Gamtoos Valley Primary.
“I love it here because it is a quiet life,” he says of Patensie, comparing it to living on a farm. The thought of retiring here one day is something that really appeals to him, he says.
“Ek is so trots op hom,” het Derik Thokoane, bestuurder van werke, te sê oor Kosie Adriaan.
Kosie, wat ook ‘n Graad 1 Voorman is, is een van die werknemers wat nou al die langste vir die Gamtoosbesproeiingsraad werk. Nadat hy vir vyf jaar kontrakwerk gedoen het vir die Raad, is Kosie in Augustus van 2005 in ‘n permanente pos aangestel.
Saam met sy span mans voer hulle daagliks algemene onderhoudstake uit soos die regmaak van lekkende of gebarste pype, sowel as meer gespesialiseerde take soos die doseering van uitheemse onkruid in die kanale. Hulle doseer ook die alge in die kanale om die water skoon te hou.
Kosie, saam met sy vrou en drie kinders – almal dogters, bly in Patensie. Sy meisiekinders is onderskeidelik op skool by Hoërskool Nico Malan, Laerskool Langkloof en Gamtoosvallei Primêre Skool.
“Om in Patensie te bly is soos om op ‘n plaas te bly,” vertel hy.
“Ek is baie lief vir hierdie plek, en daarom is die gedagte om hier af te tree nogal lekker.”