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Let’s not forget Henke, so-called father of Oscar Pistorius

We hear a lot about Oscar Pistorius living with his rich uncle Arnold while on parole, but nobody talks about his father, Henke. Here’s a letter I wrote to the murderer’s dear old dad in 2013.

…………………………………….

Howzit Henke,

I feel like I know you already. Did we meet around a braai sometime? Or maybe it was on a hunt. I think I saw you there by the Kruger Park last year. I shot nine elephants, six hippos, three giraffes and about 450 springbok. And a tortoise. Jislaaik, this hunting business is fun!

What did you get? Must have been a lot because you have more bigger guns. I only had a pomp-action shotgun. Gives the lions a big skrik but doesn’t actually kill them. Which is a pity. I wanted to have a whole bunch of lion heads on the wall behind my bar.

Maybe I will put one of the hippos there. I can chop out his top teeth and stick a couple of those awesome tot dispensers from Makro in their place. Maybe also make his mouth big, like he is yawning, and then keep the bottles in there. Don’t steal my idea, hey!

So, ja. I just wanted to send commiserations. I know what it feels like to have your family turn on you. My father only reads Shakespeare and when I started writing for the Sunday Times he said he didn’t have a son any more and my mother died of shame.

I can’t understand why your family would stab you in the back, especially when they have so many guns. Sorry, boet, that was a bad joke. There is a time for stabbing and there is a time for shooting. There is also a time for drinking. And sleeping.

You were doing the right thing when you told those Bolshevik scribblers in Britain that Oscar needed guns because the ANC government had failed to protect white people. I was surprised your boy wasn’t acquitted straight afterwards. I bet you thought the family would hold a moerse braai in your honour, with sperm whale on a spit and a crocodile on the coals and enough brandy to kill the Taliban.

Instead, the family thinks you are in fact harming Oscar’s case. What? I have never heard such radical propaganda in my life. It’s like some kind of communist plot they are busy with.

If the ANC cared about white people for real, they would form a special task force to sit with us in our homes and escort us to and from our places of work. They would also give us our own province, although some say this has already happened in the Western Cape. And maybe our own beaches. And restaurants.

White people have special needs. You only have to look at us and listen to us to know that. Minorities are rare things that must be protected. It is even written there in the Convention on International whatwhat for Endangered Species that the government has signed.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I heard your brother, Arnold, telling everyone that your interview was not approved by the family’s media liaison team. Your own brother. Sies, man. Did they even tell you the family had a media liaison team?

People like you and me, Henke, we don’t mess about with liaison teams. For a start, liaison is a foreign word. I reckon Portuguese. That’s how it starts. The next thing you know, you can’t go for a kak without getting approval from the family ablution team based in Lisbon.

Arnold is your brother. I can’t tell if he is older or younger. You people all look alike to me. You need to discipline him as Abraham disciplined his son in the Jesus time. Arnold needs to be reminded that we are God’s chosen people. If Abraham had said he would check with the family liaison team and get back to Him, God would have just sommer given him one smote-klap right there.

Ja, I don’t know about Arnold, hey. If your family owns 55 guns, you can’t tell those drunken liberal whores in the media that they are used purely for sport and hunting. It makes Oscar sound like he thought a gemsbok was in the toilet.

It also sounds like something a mad English woman would say. Like the Queen, maybe. “We only bring out the guns when the horses and hounds are gathered for an afternoon frolic with old foxy-woxie.”

I don’t know what Arnold means by sport. When I think of sport, I don’t think of guns. I think of rugby and sex. Often at the same time. I can be watching the Bulls play the Sharks and suddenly I will want to fornicate. Does this happen to you?

What Arnold should have said was that the 12 big guns were for hunting, the 42 small guns were for self-defence and the pellet gun was for getting rid of Jehovah’s Witnesses on a Saturday afternoon if there was a game on. Then we would have believed him.

What if an intruder broke into Arnold’s house? I can see it now. “Go away,” he would shout. “I have guns but I can’t use them because they are purely for sport and hunting. Go away or I will scream.”

When Arnold said your interview doesn’t represent the views of Oscar or the rest of the family, you must have felt like that oke in the Bible who was cast into the wilderness with nothing but a technicolour dreamcoat and a bagful of fish. Can’t remember his name.

Point is, you have been sold down the river for twenty pieces of silver. On the upside, you run a sulphate mine. I first experienced sulphate in London many years ago. Wow. I didn’t stop talking for three days. No wonder you’re shooting your mouth off, pardon my French.

And now you have gone and upset the ANC. Instead of them agreeing to provide white people with their own private army, spokesman Jackson Mthembu said your statement was a racist slur. That’s rich. If there is one person in this country who knows about slurring, it’s Jackson.

I can understand why Oscar might be anxious. What if the judge is an ANC man? There are a lot of them about these days. He might get life just for babysitting your .38-caliber ammunition. I suppose with all those guns, you wouldn’t have room in your house for the bullets as well. You should build a granny cottage.

Anyway. Good luck with the family. If they throw you out, you can come live by me. Bring your guns, if you like. Or you can just sleep with my shotgun. It has a very big barrel. You will like it.

28 thoughts on “Let’s not forget Henke, so-called father of Oscar Pistorius

  1. Thanks Aimee. I’m sure Henke also found it amusing.

  2. Aimee Boland says:

    Haven’t laughed so hard in ages. Well said and brilliantly written. Love it

  3. Excellent work! I posted to our page on Facebook. Well written.

  4. GalenGrassi says:

    HAHAHAHA…Bruce Tait got schooled! Dont try take on a journo or literary copy writing genius. I think Henke dug his own grave. Ben just pointed out the obvious truths mixed with satire. Brilliant work Ben!! If you call it work 😉

    1. No, you can’t call it work. Thanks anyway.

  5. Sinikiwe Mbangi says:

    I hate myself for not reading this sooner. Haven’t laughed like this in a while.

  6. baz says:

    kick it !!

  7. Armand Schonfrucht says:

    Thanks again Ben, Best half-hour in a loust week !

  8. blondeliberation says:

    Said, in silk-laced Acid TWB, yet again! Bravo!

  9. Thando says:

    hillarious broer!

  10. Mampila says:

    Wow this is brilliant and hillarious LOL!! Good stuff

  11. David @ 3 Diam says:

    Like the afrikaans tone he has written in

    David Email signature

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  12. Ayanda Ndaba says:

    Talk about a rainbow mentality…still searching for my false teeth after laughing so hard!

  13. Fred says:

    Hey Bruce…. The only tradddjedy about this post is your spelling.

  14. Suti says:

    Haven’t laughed this hard in a very long time…this piece is just brilliant. Lol

  15. An education system which allows people to describe tradjedy needs you, Ben, to enlighten them…brilliant, as ever.

  16. Welile says:

    Classic!

  17. That should have been “wiff” and not “with.”

  18. The only real tradjedy here, Bruce, is your ending a sentence with a preposition.

    1. Lisha says:

      hahahahahaHAHAHAHAhaha Whip It Good

  19. kim says:

    Oh yes Bruce, we are highly amused!

  20. bruce tait says:

    This is not a circus event . Let the families and friends deal with the tradjedy in whatever way they have to and let justice run its course.
    There is always time for wit but this is not one of them even if you have nothing else to amuse your readership with

  21. Helen Veitch says:

    EXCELLENT…. As always…I am still chuckling!!
    Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom – let your email find you!

    1. Christof says:

      Cheap shot ben. I like your stuff otherwise. Keep it real.

      1. Ben Trovato says:

        I’m a big fan of cheap shots

        1. Graham Ferreira says:

          Absolutely. R69 for a tiny plastic tooth glass of Tequila is ridiculous.

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