For Martha “Baba” Rollison, every working day begins with prayer, purpose and a commitment to serving her community. A general worker and team leader at Kouga Local Municipality in Oyster Bay, Rollison has been part of the municipality for 19 years. She joined on 4 April 2007.
For Martha “Baba” Rollison, working for Kouga Local Municipality is about far more than simply completing a day’s tasks. For the past 19 years, the Oyster Bay-born general worker and team leader has approached each day with faith, purpose and a deep commitment to serving her community.
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OYSTER BAY – For Martha “Baba” Rollison, every working day begins with prayer, purpose and a commitment to serving her community.
A general worker and team leader at Kouga Local Municipality in Oyster Bay, Rollison has been part of the municipality for 19 years. She joined on 4 April 2007 – a moment she still describes as an answered prayer.
An answered prayer
Born and bred in Oyster Bay, Rollison never imagined that she would one day work for the municipality.
“The call that I was going to be employed came at a very challenging time in my life,” says the mother of four. “I thought that I would go through my life struggling and then the unexpected happened. It was an awesome feeling. I am still so grateful, even years later.”
Starting as a general worker, Rollison has grown into a team leader who takes pride in both her work and the community she serves.
Rollison’s work is all-encompassing. Together with her small team, she tackles a variety of tasks, including grass cutting, litter picking, cleaning public ablution facilities, maintaining the community hall and keeping Oyster Bay clean.
Her day starts by unlocking the community hall. Although they are not stationed there throughout the day, it is where they gather, pray, collect their tools and prepare for the day ahead.
“We pray, take our tools and go our separate ways to do our daily tasks.”
Leading with excellence
As team leader, Rollison believes in leading by example and encouraging her colleagues to take pride in what they do.
“I motivate my team by telling them to do what we must and do it with excellence.”
One of the challenges they encounter is at the drop-off zone, where some residents do not always understand the rules. However, a particularly proud moment came when her team was nominated as having one of the best drop-off zones.
“I didn’t expect it, but it was special. It sent a message that we are working with excellence.”
For Rollison, service delivery means responding to residents’ needs without unnecessary delay.
“When we are asked to do something for the residents, we do it immediately. And when residents thank us, it motivates us to do more and do it even better next time.”
A journey of faith
Rollison’s journey at the municipality has also been a journey of faith and personal transformation.
When she started working, she says she did not know God. Over time, people introduced her to her faith and helped her discover a new sense of identity and purpose.
“When you come from a bad background, people disregard you, but when I started knowing God, I discovered who I am in Christ. I learned that I am valuable and one of God’s chosen.”
Outside of work, her faith remains central to her life. She is a member of The Voice Ministry and is an evangelist on probation, with plans to be ordained soon.
She also finds inspiration in gospel artist Vetkryt. “The moment you listen to one of his songs, you will be uplifted.”
Dreams and determination
Rollison is determined to continue growing. One of her goals is to complete her matric.
She also dreams of obtaining her driver’s licence, becoming an even bigger part of the municipality, if it is God’s will, and seeing her children fulfil their own dreams.
And there is a fun side to “Baba” that many colleagues may not know.
“People don’t know that I can dance,” she laughs. “For people it is like Baba goes to church. That’s it.”
But when it comes to happiness, nothing compares to spending time with her children.
Her message to others is one of perseverance: “Do not give up. I must go on until I have what I want.”
