Gerhard Coetzee (38) has been the project manager of the catering team during the Dakar rally for the past three years. However, very few people know that he was born in Carletonville, raised in the area and had to work himself up from nothing. “My child was in Laerskool Blyvoor, Laerskool Dagbreek and then Callies, but did not even get his matric because we had to take him out of the school in Gr. 9. We stayed in Deelkraal and just did not have the bus money to send him to school. He went on to do a chef’s course at Vuselela College, followed by his diploma, which he got from the Chef’s Association in 2008,” says his mother, Daleen. After realising that being a chef was his passion, Gerhard first tried to make a living as a chef in South Africa. Coincidentally, he started working at Teazers on the night of its owner, Lolly Jackson’s murder. He also worked at several game farms, one of which closed down. After several dead-end jobs, he ended up unemployed for eight months. Out of desperation, he placed his CV on Gumtree. This step proved to be his big break. Saudi Airlines noticed his CV and offered him a job as an onboard chef. He moved to Saudi Arabia on 16 November 2014 and worked himself up to his current job as the project manager for the airline’s catering section. It is through this occupation that Gerhard also became the project manager of the catering services for all the Dakar Rally contestants. “They noticed he was very good at food development, menu planning and presentations. They called him in to tell him he had been chosen to head the airline’s catering team for Dakar. Afterwards, the rally organisers called the airline and congratulated them on their excellent service,” says Daleen. Gerhard also got involved in judging for the International Chef’s Association. In 2018 the Chefs’ Association of SA contacted him and asked him to represent South Africa at the International Food Festival and competition in Hoi An in Vietnam. There, he made, South African dishes – bobotie with yellow rice and baked pancakes, among others. They were a huge hit. In between all the action, Gerhard married his longtime sweetheart, Tianie van den Heever in 2015. “My son refused to lie down when things were hard for him, even when he was very discouraged at times. This was what made him succeed,” believes his mother.
