Oom Paul taken for a spin

2004-08-16 23:23

Dirk Kok

Hertzogville - Armed with sjamboks and whips - and the body of Paul Meintjies in a coffin - farmers and town's residents descended on the Meintjies' house on Monday to end the fiasco surrounding his long-awaited "resurrection".

For 46 days, Oom Paul's body has been in the town mortuary awaiting his resurrection, as "foretold" by Durban "prophet" David Francis.

However, on Monday, when the crowd and coffin arrived at the Meintjies house, the only message to come out was that the immediate family would speak to mortuary-owner Nico Foulds on Tuesday.

In the house were Francis and Oom Paul's widow, son and daughter, who are convinced the old man will "rise from the dead".

Hertzogville residents want the controversial ''prophet'' to leave town so that they can bury old man Meintjies.

Counter-threat from 'prophet'

Monday's show of anger came in the wake of threats by other members of Oom Paul's family at the weekend that they would fetch his body and bury it.

But this sparked a counter-threat by Francis who told Foulds that anyone who removed the body would drop dead.

Hertzogville residents and Foulds were furious.

On Monday, Foulds and two residents put Meintjes' body in a coffin and drove it to the house where his wife, son and daughter were closeted with Francis.

Contrary to Francis' prediction, no one involved in the action died.

At the Meintjies' house, hooters were blown and stones thrown on the roof to get Francis to leave the house.

Several farmers, armed with sjamboks and whips, said ''the false prophet'' would be driven naked out of town.

Foulds wanted to hand over Oom Paul's body to the ''prophet'', Oom Paul's wife and her children. He is fed up with the whole matter.

However, no one ventured out of the house. The ''prophet'' and his three followers stayed behind locked doors.

Foulds eventually returned to the mortuary with the body.

'Town can't be ridiculed any longer'

He said: "I proved what I wanted to prove. No one dropped down dead.

"No one is going to rise from the dead. The prophet is no prophet."

A well-known farmer in the district, Dirk Coetzee sen, said outside the house: "We are all really tired of the whole thing. We now want the man (Francis) out of our town.

"If he would only come out. But he is hiding. Hertzogville's name cannot be ridiculed any longer.

Oom Paul's sister, Hettie Vorster, was also there. Back at the mortuary, she stroked the feet of her dead brother.

She said: "He must now just be cremated or buried."

- Volksblad