Adriaan Horn has been working as a general worker aligned to the Expanded Public Works Programme at the Gamkaberg Nature Reserve in the Little Karoo. He started off in tourism services, before joining the field team.

He explains that he started working for a contractor who was doing work in the reserve. “We did road maintenance, hiking trails, alien clearing and helped with the building of the eco-lodges.

As an EPWP participant, he does maintenance and field work like alien clearing and helping with the counting of animals like Cape mountain zebra, eland and red hartebeest. “There are leopards here too. I haven’t seen one yet, but one day I hope to see one in the mountains when I go counting.

He feels privileged to be working at the beautiful Gamkaberg and describes the job as his “best ever”.

“When you work in town you can’t see anything. When I work, I can see the whole valley and mountains … I like working, as we work in a team. There isn’t an aspect of my job I don’t like.”