VRYHEID KZN: Autohouse Vryheid says goodbye

She is short in stature and feisty in spirit, but mostly loved by everyone who knows and has worked with Corrie Vermaak.
68-year-old Corrie is now saying goodbye to Autohouse Vryheid. She joined the company in 1991 when it was still trading as Provincial Motors, owned by Robbie and Anne Bezuidenhout. In 1998, the business was taken over by Dennis (Snr) and Elvina Jones, and Corrie worked for 16 years with them before Dennis Jnr took over the reins from his father in 2014.
Corrie sternly explains that she doesn’t believe in having a boss, but rather an employer. She continues by explaining that if you put in the effort and do your share, you make friends who turn into family. She says you have to love your job and always give your employer your best. She becomes very emotional and teary-eyed when she refers to the Jones family as being the best employers and warm-hearted people. “Hulle het my in hierdie jare ondersteun, gehelp en bygestaan met alles waardeur ek gegaan het. Moenie altyd gaan vir geld nie want die liefde en respek wat jy van jou werkgewer afkry is wonderlik en meer werd. Ek neem met ‘n seer hart afskeid,” she lovingly spoke about the Jones’. Corrie is going on pension at the end of this month, after deciding it was time for her to take things easier.
One has to smile when she says she’ll be back on June 1, since her work is not completely done as yet. Corrie loves to be kept busy and her colleagues find it difficult to believe that she’ll sit still at home.
Collette van Ellinckhuyzen, who has ‘big shoes’ to fill after Corrie leaves, says: “Sy is kwaai en streng, en alles is 100% reg in haar werk. Ons mag nie huistoe gaan voordat ons werk nie op datum is en die lessenaar skoon is nie. Maar ek het in die amper twee maande wat ek saam met Tannie Corrie werk, baie lief vir haar geword.”
Collette indeed has her work cut out for her, since Corrie has over 40 years of experience in the motoring industry and was known to take no nonsense from her clients, since she is a debtor’s clerk for the business. Corrie smiles and says she is firm yet respectful towards her clients; that is why she gets along with most of them. She admits that she loves working with people and since debt collecting can be challenging, you need to understand people and handle them with love. Corrie is strong in her faith and believes that you can’t achieve anything unless you have God in your life. She admits that she ‘turned away’ from God a few times in her life, yet God never turned His back on her and that strengthened her faith. She survived a heart attack as well as testing positive for Covid-19 (in August last year); she believes it was only her faith and the grace of God that pulled her through.
How will she keep herself busy after retirement? Corrie has no idea as yet, but plans on visiting friends and family. A known fact is that this ‘busy bee’ has to find something to keep herself occupied, apart from her favourite hobby of collecting succulent plants. Corrie and her energetic, vibrant and mischievous personality will be missed by her colleagues, her clients and mostly by her employers.
Corrie’s message to Dennis Jones and his family is: “Dankie vir alles, dankie vir julle ondersteuning, liefde en bystand. Julle is altyd daar vir ‘n mens. Julle is nie ons base nie, julle is ons werkgewer maar wanneer jy hulp of raad benodig, is hulle gereed om te help en te luister. Dankie vir die respek waarmee julle mens behandel. Mag die Here julle seën. Julle sal altyd nog my familie bly. Ek is altyd daar as julle my nodig het vir solank as wat die Vader my die krag gee. Ek gaan verseker nog baie kom kuier en kom koffie drink.”

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