I was born and bred in McGregor, in the Langeberg Area, and finished high school at Langeberg Secondary. In 1972, I settled on a farm in the Rooiberg Area, where the Du Plessis family enrolled me in various training courses at the Elsenburg Agricultural College. From an ordinary farm worker, I managed to work my way up to that of farm manager over time. I’m now married with 4 children and am a proud grandfather to 14 grandchildren.
My interest in politics began 17 years ago when I first became a community leader and started the Robertson Farmworkers Association. From there, I became Vice-President of the Farmworkers Association of South Africa. I was the first farmworker to be elected councillor on the Winelands Transitional Representative Council in 1994. After this, I served a term on the Bree River Winelands council, the Cape Winelands District Municipality, where I subsequently got elected Executive Deputy Mayor at the Cape Winelands District Municipality, in 2011.