On 1 March this year Jody October, a Final Level Grader Operator, celebrated 20 years at ASLA. He hails from Heidelberg in the Southern Cape, a small town on the N2, on route to George and just past Swellendam – “It’s exactly 227km from here where we are on site,” he explains.
Jody has two sisters (he is a middle child) and as the only boy in the house had to step up as a brother and father figure when his father passed away in 2000. “I finished school that year, but did not matriculate well, and for the next two years struggled to find work in our small town.” His journey with ASLA began on 8 February 2002, after being encouraged (by his aunt who lived in Caledon) to apply at ASLA, that was just starting a road construction contract. His first proper job saw him working as an hourly paid dip man (i.e., the person who runs in front of the grader doing level control for layer works) for Carel De Lange, then a site agent, who retires later this year.
ASLA employed Jody permanently in 2003, and over the years that followed he used every opportunity available to learn how to operate all the machines used on site – grader, dumper, loader, and a crane. In 2008, through ASLA’s assistance, he became TJEKA Training Matters certified. “I’m happiest on my Cat 120H G11,” says Jody. “but I can operate all the graders in the company, and travel across the Cape in my company bakkie to sites where I’m needed.”
The furthest from home Jody has worked has been in Calvinia in the northern Cape, and East London in the southern Cape. Grader operators are often required to travel to the company’s various civil sites, and will sometimes spend longer stretches away from home, sharing a house with co-workers. “Many people that I meet through my work come from the same background as I do,” explains Jody, “and, as I spend more time with co-workers than in my own home, we become like brothers – especially those of us who are the same age.”
Throughout his career Jody has met many people, often also stemming from small towns across the province. “Even though their parents probably had better jobs than mine did, I still feel I’m their equal,” he says. “And although our motives for coming into construction may be different, we all want to provide for our families. What I do here every day, is for my family, and since I started working two decades ago, most of what I earn goes into our home and providing for my mother and sisters.”
Twenty years on, and Jody isn’t the youngest member of his site teams anymore. It’s come a time where he could be embarking on a period where he can share his wisdom, and even mentor some of the younger recruits, who are new to the company, or to the industry. “Here on the job, we are constructing something – that begins with an empty patch of land, and when we finish, is the start of a new life for someone. Everyone deserves a place, where they can live in peace.”
Jody’s philosophy on life is simple. He believes one should treat people the way one would like to be treated, give back to one’s community, and care for people who have nothing. “If I could change one thing in the world, it would be poverty,” he says. “What I have is a gift from God…this work is a gift from God, and if I am able to give back to my family and someone on the street, then I feel like I am doing my part.”
