Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

The Cantacuzene Period (1952–1965)
The Saiccor factory under construction, 1954
Innumerable problems had to be solved� One of the earliest problems,
that of finding an Italian-speaking, South African trained nurse,
proved intractable, whereas a transport problem had a rough and
ready solution: ‘transport from the New South Barrow hotel to the
factory site has now been finalised in the form of two ten ton lorries
each of which will be carrying 70 men� This will necessitate two
trips and it is anticipated that half the men will start at 7:30 and the
other half at 08:00’ (Hastie, 1954)
When the authorities refused to allow the boiler and turbine parts
across either the rail or road bridges, a makeshift bridge was
successfully constructed across the river for the purpose�
Among those who started in 1954 were Luigi de Corte, Rino Boem,
Silvano Moro, Bepi Trevisan, Alison Mthuli and Armando Zerman, who
became the first employees to achieve 40 years service at Saiccor in 1994�
Moro was the first to achieve 45 years in 1999� Although Enoc Baldin
and Edi Taverna started in 1954 and were still employed in 1994 and
1999, both had broken service�
Luigi de Corte started as a Boilermaker in the workshops making
doors and windows for the factory� Once the factory was operational,
he worked as a Boiler Operator under Gino Salotto for three years�
He then moved back to the workshop, and in 1961 was transferred
to the plant, where he worked in the woodyard, liquor plant and
digesters where he became a Chargehand� He retired in 1995�
Throughout his career he was super-energetic, working like a Trojan�
For many years he worked with Giordano Soldat, and together they
made a comical team as Giordano was twice ‘Gigi’s’ size�
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Armando Zerman