Caroline bids farewell to Laerskool Werda
Asked for the secret to her longevity, Caroline says it is having a strong work ethic and taking pride in what you do that enabled her to work until the age 65.
Laerskool Werda stalwart Caroline Mate has retired after 41 years at the school.
Caroline started working as a cleaner at the school in 1977 and did not speak a word of Afrikaans.
“I was initially very quiet and shy when I started and couldn’t understand what anyone was saying.
“But I gradually learnt the language by listening through the windows as I was cleaning around the school
“I would then go home and teach my younger siblings,” says Caroline.
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Her Afrikaans has improved to such an extent that her Afrikaans is now better than her English.
The Tsakane resident says she believes the job at Werda was meant for her as it was her friend who initially told her about it, and they both took the bus that day to the interview and only she was hired.
“God, kept that job for me.
“It is not a coincidence that my salary when I first started was R41 and now I am retiring after 41 years,” says Caroline.
Caroline, who was the oldest of nine children and a single parent of four says she loved working at Werda where she developed her skills and move from a cleaning position to one where she helped with admin duties.
Asked for the secret to her longevity, Caroline says it is having a strong work ethic and taking pride in what she did that enabled her to work until the age of 65.
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Now that she has retired, Caroline says the will miss her family at Werda as she calls them.
“The other schoolchildren, hearing my nephew and nieces, call me Mamkhulu (aunt), would call me the same thing.
“I loved them like my own, and now that I’m at home, it seems a bit quieter without them,” says Caroline.
Caroline, who almost didn’t make it to retirement after she was involved in a taxi accident last month, says she won’t slow down with retirement.
“I’m going to use this opportunity to visit my family who live in different parts of Gauteng.
“I’m also looking forward to being more active in my community and church,” says Caroline.
