President Kruger’s fundamental
fables are legion. The tell us a lot about Oom
Paul, and include his stories
- Of “waiting for
the tortoise to stick its head out” before beating it.
-
Of his excuse for not attending a Ball – because of the
biblical Baal and an Old Testament conclusion that dancing couples should be
put to death.
-
Of his pet monkey which burned its tail in a fire –
then bit its owner: Oom Paul commented:: “. . .which is just like these people
in Johannesburg. They burn themselves in the fire of speculation and then they
come and bite me.”
However the most revealing crack in the granite of his
fundamentalist beliefs is the story of his attitude to gambling on horseraces, which brought
huge revenues to Pretoria. “Gambling is a sin,” he said, “but God has always
intended that horses should be properly exercised, and racing does it."
