Alcoa offered very family and community friendly conditions of employment
Thirty-nine year old Rudie Van Zyl made the move from Cape Town South Africa, to Mandurah Australia to work for Alcoa of Australia in 2008. With him came his wife, Elmari, and their two young children Adriaan and Jaco.
Rudie left a job as Operations Manager of Chevron’s hydro treating unit at its Milnerton Refinery in South Africa, and is now Calciner Maintenance Supervisor for Alcoa’s Western Australian Operations. His job at Alcoa entails managing the planning and execution of major overhauls of the Alumina Calciners located at Alcoa’s three refineries.
“Australia, with its sunny weather, oceans and outback, seemed like an adventure worth tackling,” he said, three years down the track.
“Concerns with safety in South Africa, and future opportunities for us and our children, were also obviously on our minds a lot at the time when we were considering making the move.
“The biggest joy has been the freedom we now have in being able to enjoy nature. We can go camping in the bush and walk along the beach without constantly worrying about our safety.
“The Alcoa sites in Western Australia are conveniently close to Perth, but far enough from the rush and congestion of the city.
“This also meant I did not have to take on a fly-in-fly-out job and could spend every night at home with my family. This was something that was very important to us when making the decision to move to another country.
“Alcoa offered very family and community friendly conditions of employment.”
Rudie said he and his family found the transition to Australia to be relatively easy and hassle free, with the climate and culture playing a huge part in this.
“The company has a diverse workforce, and there are many other immigrants within the company, so that’s made my adjustment in Australia fairly easy.
“My wife, Elmari, found adjusting a bit more challenging, but only because she was at home raising our two boys and for a short time had to manage the many small administrative tasks associated with moving to a new country. But that’s only a short-term thing, and getting involved in our local church and activities at the kids’ school was great for settling and making new friends.
“Our kids were three and four years old when we made the move and they’ve taken the change in their stride. Kids are resilient and I think often much more adaptable that adults, and much more adaptable than we adults give them credit for.
“Adriaan , the youngest, is outgoing and makes friends easily. He already supports the Wallabies and Ricky Ponting is his favourite cricket player.
“Jaco is a bit more reserved and is sticking a bit closer to his South African roots, and that’s okay too.
“Luckily South Africa and Australia share a lot of sports so our boys have been able to participate in sports that were part of our culture there and are part of our culture here. Although it does take a bit to get used to Aussie Rules football and some may never get it!”
Rudie and his family have found leaving family and friends behind has been the hardest part of moving and offers this advice to fellow South Africans considering a move:
“You and your family must be willing to adapt and make this your new home. It makes life a lot tougher if a part of you wants to be somewhere else.”
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