Msomi retires after 45 years of dedication

AFTER 45 years of working at Durban Solid Waste (Pinetown), Amos Msomi, area cleansing officer will bid farewell to his colleagues as he prepares to spend quality time with his family.

Life has not been a bed of roses for Msomi who was a gardener and completed all kinds of odd jobs at various houses in Cowies Hill, prior to his employment at DSW.

He said he also dreamt of having a nice job someday and not be a gardener his whole life.

“During those days, you had to register at the Department of Labour to be a municipality employee,” he said.

Msomi was hired in 1971 as a general assistant, collecting refuse. Because of his dedication, hard work and love for his job, he was promoted to a team leader after five years.

“My job description was to check and supervise general workers. The job required me to drive around and that is when I had to get a valid drivers licence,” he added.

He was then promoted to his position, area cleansing officer in 1998. The job included supervising refuse removal, general workers, attending to complaints and going out to communities to teach people about the correct ways to dispose of their refuse.

Msomi said, he did not think he was going to work at DSW, which was known then as the Borough of Pinetown.

“The work was very difficult then but it got easier as time went by.”

He said, having people to report to you it not always easy as people are different and they take instructions in different ways.

“What I have learnt over the years is to learn to treat every person the same way. I always advised my staff to respect their work and avoid being absent from work without a valid reason. People need to call and report if they are not coming in so that proper arrangements can be made. People should not go to work while under the influence of alcohol and if a person has personal problems they should seek help as the municipality offers counselling for such issues,” explained Msomi.

He said to succeed and move forward in life you have to study to keep up with new trends as things always change.

“The municipality does offer courses for its employees and I have done almost all of them including supervision and customer care.”

He added that now that he is retiring, he will have more time with family, his wife, children and grandchildren.

“I dedicated most of my life to my work, even when I was at home I would think about work. I will even have time to visit friends and relatives and attend weekend functions.”

Although he is happy that he will be getting time to relax, Msomi said he will definitely miss the working environment.

“I will miss waking up to get to the office, the staff, DSW customers, and the community, who all became my second family and played a huge role in my life.”