10 NEWS
Martin Coetzee , past Technical Manager , Cobra Watertech I had the privilege to have worked alongside Natie for the past 25 years at Cobra Watertech until my retirement in 2015 . For the last 10 years there I had the opportunity to be part of his technical department and was able to get to know him better as a person . He was an excellent leader who led by example and had a talent for problem-solving of technical challenges and in dealing with people . He had the ability to see the good qualities in the most difficult characters and calmly bringing out the best in them , without being gullible or mislead .
He had a vast and detailed knowledge and understanding of all the complex manufacturing processes involved in the designing and making of complicated products such as pressure control valves , thermostatic control valves and in the numerous specialist processes in the various factories under his control . I was always in awe at his ability to quickly see the crux of any matter as well as their possible solutions and his organisational abilities and uncanny memory for details . At Cobra he had an unrivalled record for getting things done , no matter how large or complex the tasks . At the same time , his office door was open to all his staff to discuss personal problems affecting their work or technical problems or improvements to products or processes .
It was a privilege also to visit other factories in different parts of the world with Natie and experience the respect and esteem that the engineers and experts in Europe and elsewhere held for him . It was therefore an enriching experience for me and my other colleagues to have worked for and alongside him . He was very much involved in technical contributions to the improvement of South African National Standards related to the plumbing industry .
All of this and more made Natie a man with unique abilities from an industry point of view as well as from a personal one . He loved the Bosveld and his smallholding and was very close to his family – his wife Karen and their children – his many friends and his community . His untimely passing has left a massive hole in our industry and in the lives of all who knew him .
Evert Swanepoel , Non- Executive Chairman , CDAA I met Natie in 2012 when I was employed by CDAA , and I am sure he had a lot to do with my appointment .
He was employed by Cobra as Operation Director and Chairman of CDAA until about five years ago when I took over . I did not personally know him well , but he was a very capable Chairman and extremely knowledgeable on the plumbing industry .
One of his hobbies was cattle of which he kept a fairly large number on a plot on the West Rand and he often told me that he found peace and tranquillity just being around them . He regularly attended cattle auctions .
He acted as a CDAA consultant since 2019 when he left Lixil .
He was a fine gentleman . May his soul rest in peace .
Clive Shepherd , Product Manager , BRI Industries and Anton Wessels , Engineering Manager , PDC Anton described Natie as a mentor-counsellor-leader-boss-managerfriend-brother to many people in many areas of life and business .
He also added that Natie was a singer of note , a hunter and marksman , a family man in all aspects of his immediate family and all those who were a part of his greater family and friends .
Clive noted that during the 30 years he worked for Natie he described him as a leader of men and this was seen in his interactions with people , both in the workplace and outside of work .
Natie was a man involved in many aspects of life , as a deacon in his church and an active farmer with cattle feedlot and mielies which he was in the process of expanding to put land under feed grasses . In the past he dabbled in fish farming and had an intensive broiler chicken operation as well as a free-range chicken operation , of which the latter attracted the interest of the SPCA ! PA
www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline September 2021 Volume 27 I Number 7