After serving as the court manager at Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court for the last 16 years, Marius Kriek will miss the gratitude shown by the public, but believes it is time for him to bid farewell, as he retires and moves on to a new chapter in his life.
His career initially began in 1978 in the financial services industry and he only joined the Department of Justice in 2002. On June 1, 2006, Kriek began working at the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court as a court manager and has continued to fulfil his role for exactly 16 years.
As a court manager, he was responsible for the finances of the court, which included finances of third parties, such as contributions towards child maintenance, the upkeep of the building and employees, which excludes finances of the Judiciary and National Prosecuting Authority. In addition, Kriek also had to deal with the finances of all procurements, providing a service to the Judiciary and National Prosecuting Authority and much more.
After working for more than 40 years, on May 31, he retired and looks forward to starting a new chapter in his life.
“I always said I would work until I felt that I did not make a difference anymore, but now at 65 years old, I have to retire,” said Kriek.
He said he would miss the gratitude shown by the public when a civil servant did their job well, but there was a lot he could elaborate on that he would not miss now that he has retired. Kriek said he would advise the new court manager to learn to be patient as the Afrikaans phrase ‘jy moet hare op jou tande hê’ comes to mind which translates to ‘you must have plenty of grit’.
“As a hobby I make knives and hope to get back into photography and playing golf again, but I am not a gardener,” he said.
Finance supervisor, Amanda Landman, said for the last 13 years that she has worked with Kriek, he has always had an open-door policy.
“When I approached Mr Kriek with any issue related to work or a personal matter, he immediately dropped what he was doing to help,” said Landman.
Similar to Landman, Prosecutor Nita Mentz, who has been working at Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court for 32 years, said Kriek was willing to help his co-workers and the public with any issue. She said he had a good sense of humour and a lot of knowledge which he was willing to share.
“He was always friendly and never lost his temper,” said Mentz. “We will miss him a lot.”
