Family and friends paid tribute to pilot Andries Daffie (51) during a memorial service on Friday, 6 November.
Daffie died when his agricultural two-seater aircraft crashed on Saturday, 31 October while he was cropping orchards in Kirkwood.
According to his sister, Madelein Zaayman (37), Daffie’s death was a big shock to the family. “He loved his job, so he died doing what he loved to do. Not many people can say that. He was a pilot through and through,” Zaayman said.
Daffie and his wife, Annalie (51) have been living in Kirkwood for the past couple of years, where he worked as a crop sprayer. “He has been all over the world working as a crop sprayer – he’s been doing it for about 25 years,” Zaayman added.
His memorial service was held at AJ’s Landing, a hangar in Sunland, Kirkwood that Daffie was busy building himself. “My father taught Andries how to put up steel constructions. We held the memorial service in the hangar, which was named after my dad. We believe this is what he would have wanted.”
She said that an investigation by the South African Civil Aviation Authority showed that it was not a human error that led to the aircraft crashing. “Something happened to the plane. Investigation shows that a rubber cable in the control wheel snapped and that my brother did everything possible to gain control of the aircraft after it started to spin. Unfortunately, he did not succeed and the aircraft crashed and burned out.”
Zaayman said her brother has made an impact on everyone he met. “Everyone in the Valley knew him. He was such a big figure in our and other people’s lives.
“He lived for his family. His wife, children and grandchildren were his everything. My sister (Christine Schoeman, 35) and myself were also very close to him. Our father died in 2008 and my brother was a blueprint of my dad, so we felt like we still had a piece of my father left in Andries, but now that is also gone.”
Andries and his wife Annalie have been together since they were teenagers and they would have celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this December.
They have two daughters, Mariette Dun (28) from Kirkwood and Danielle Daffie (25) who lives in Cape Town; and two grandchildren Janco (2) and Luan (10 months) Dun.
“He was such an amazing grandfather. Luan will never know his grandfather, but Janco absolutely worshipped the ground my brother walked on.
“He was a family man. He was everyone’s father, grandfather, brother and friend. My brother still had so much to offer the world. The world will miss him dearly,” Zaayman said.
According to police spokesperson, Sergeant Majola Nkohli, an inquest docket was opened for further investigation.
