29 Oct 2026
Too Much Work, Not Enough People: A South African's American Away Game - Marinus Ferreira
Too much work, not enough people. That is how Marinus Ferreira sums up the American job market, and why a staffing career that started in Secunda now places South Africans in jobs across the US.
In this episode of Winning the Away Game, Justinus Adriaanse and Flip van der Merwe talk to Marinus about a career that runs from building sites in Israel and the bars of London to Sasol shutdowns, the Middle East and, since 2022, Texas. He explains why South African work ethic is an easy sell to US employers, how he filled a 150-person shutdown in Houston on his own, why recruiting in the US comes down to poaching, and how a training programme inside prisons could change lives.
ABOUT MARINUS
Marinus Ferreira grew up in Secunda and began his career in accounting and the commercial side of South Africa's industrial economy. He spent more than four years placing people into work in the UK before building a staffing career across major industrial projects in South Africa, the Middle East, Bermuda and the United States. Today he is founder and CEO of TUSA Inc. in Texas and Managing Director of the Southside Group. His work spans industrial staffing, executive search, business transactions and New Beginnings, a TUSA initiative that helps formerly incarcerated people return to stable employment.
IN THIS EPISODE
- Why South Africans earned 10 shekels an hour more on Israeli building sites
- The radio line that made him quit Sasol for London
- Running petrochemical shutdowns with 6,000 to 10,000 extra workers
- How COVID made the business more money, and the 100% bonus that followed
- Moving the family to Texas with eight suitcases
- 150 ordered, 143 delivered: the Houston job that made his name in the US
- How poaching drives US recruiting
- New Beginnings: the plan to teach trades inside prisons
- 300+ placements, and only three or four that did not work out
CHAPTERS
0:00 Houston: too much work, not enough people
0:50 Welcome: meet Marinus Ferreira
2:17 Favourite Springbok memory
3:10 Growing up in Secunda
4:43 First taste of the world: Israel
7:06 From Sasol to London
12:20 Going it alone: labour-broking
14:44 The shutdown business
16:10 The Middle East
16:31 COVID
18:14 Making it in the US
22:41 Family
25:29 Starting again in Houston
29:02 New Beginnings
31:08 A new talent pipeline
40:26 What's next
43:55 Wrap-up
Winning The Away Game is brought to you by The Lekker Network. The Lekker Network brings together South Africa’s top entrepreneurs, executives, innovators, and everyday people from all over the world to connect, engage, support, do business with each other, and create lasting impact. Find out more at https://thelekkernetwork.com/
Listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/26fB2unP9Ih6IA3QkjnGQF?si=4b4380f24a144716
Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/winning-the-away-game/id1853818584
Connect with Justinus:https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinusadriaanse/
Connect with Flip:https://www.linkedin.com/in/flipvandermerwe/
Check out our other channels: Website: https://wtagpodcast.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/winning-the-away-game-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wtag_podcast/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wtag_podcast
Winning The Away Game is produced by Jonathan Warncke Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E%99-jonathan-warncke-45b2095/
Ping Productions: https://www.pingproductions.net/
