Executive Manager: Corporate Services
Trix Holtzhausen
Executive Manager: Corporate Services
Trix Holtzhausen was born in Bloemfontein in the Free State Province as the youngest of five children, a province popularly and poetically known as “the city of roses”. The city is also known by the Basotho people as Mangaung – the place of the Cheetahs.
“My mother was a teacher and my father was a lecturer in African Languages at the Free State University. Sadly he passed away when I was only seven years old.”
Holtzhausen attended the C & N All-Girls School in Bloemfontein for 12 years where she matriculated. After finishing her secondary education, she and a small number of students were identified to become foreign exchange students in the United States of America (USA). She subsequently attended school there and lived with an American family for one year. Part and parcel of her responsibilities was to be a young ambassador for South Africa during this time, which presented her with a unique opportunity to grow her diplomatic skills. After a year in the USA, she graduated as a senior from the Cheyenne High school in Wyoming, USA. “This was for sure a life-changing event for me,” she said.
Upon returning to South Africa, she enrolled at the Orange Free State University where she obtained her Bachelor of Social Science (B.Soc) Degree and then completed her Honours in B.Soc Science. This gave her the opportunity to become a fully-fledged professional health practitioner.
However, she admits that her “spirit to explore and seek adventure resulted in me joining South African Airways as an Airhostess for the next two and a half years,” she said.  This experience equipped her with valuable life lessons by learning from countless people, cultures, and customs from across the globe. She said that this experience “changed her perceptions of life and how every person deserves a place in the world”.
After her time in the “air”, she settled in Kemtonpark, Gauteng. Here, she continued her work in the health profession and enrolled for a Bachelor of Nursing Science (B Cur) Degree at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She also added more feathers to her cap by completing qualifications in administration and education through UNISA.
In 1990 she moved to the Western Cape and joined the Regional Council (now Garden Route DM), working within Community Services Department. Here she formed part of the Primary Health Care section, occupying the position of Assistant Director of Primary Health Care Services. She held the position until the health services was transferred to the Western Cape Government Department of Health. Within this transition period, she was appointed as the Acting Manager for the Community Services Department until the position was permanently filled.
Following developments at the Municipality, she was seconded to the Department of Health for the Southern Cape/Central Karoo regions for a period of two years where she filled the position of Deputy Director for Tuberculosis/HIV. Her responsibilities were to manage the programmes across the Southern Cape, Klein Karoo and Central Karoo areas.
She returned to the Eden District Municipality (now GRDM) as a Programme/Project Manager and was responsible for various projects across the municipality. Shortly after her return, she enrolled for a Master in Business Administration with the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) and completed the qualification by the end of 2004. She subsequently also completed the Municipal Minimum Competency qualification with the University of Stellenbosch.
Trix was appointed on a contract basis as the Executive Manager for Departments of Corporate Services (inclusive of Local Economic Development, Tourism, Integrated Development Planning and Communication) for a period of 5 years since January 2013. While in this position, she completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Labour Relations at the Nelson Mandela University in 2016.
During 2018 she was permanently appointed as Executive Manager Corporate Services for GRDM.
On the leisure side, she enjoys exercising and walking in nature on weekends, entertaining friends and family. She is a keen traveller and had the privilege of visiting, Dubai, Ras Al Khaima, Mauritius, USA, Hong Kong, Greece and Europe over the years.
She is also a proud mother of two adult children, one who resides in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Her mother also lives in George and enjoys frequent visits from Trix and her family members.
Trix is passionate about seeing youngsters thrive by gaining experience and succeeding in life, but not only the young, but also senior citizens who she also supports. She also has a passion for animal welfare and actively supports causes in the Garden Route. “I am strongly in favour of women empowerment and seeing to it that the well-being of women is enhanced through interventions. Her passion for women empowerment is also coupled with keeping women and children safe as she is well-outspoken about the state of safety of vulnerable groups in the country. “I am, like many other South Africans, saddened by the degree of violence that women and children face on a daily basis – every South African need to speak up and fight for the plight of our most vulnerable community members,” she said.
Trix says that she often dreams about a “South Africa free of racism, poverty and inequality, a nation embracing and celebrating the country’s diversity in a crime-free environment where respect and dignity can prevail”. Proudly South African!
Her next goal in life is to learn Xhosa.
In conclusion, the motto that she maintains throughout her working career, is as follows: “The world is not interested in the storms you have encountered, but did you bring in the ship”.
On a more personal level the following:
“The circumstances of your life have uniquely qualified you to make a contribution. And if you don’t make that contribution nobody else can make it for you.”