Farewell to ‘Oom Maans’

VETERAN political activist Hermanus Beukes, who died at the age of 91 at his native Rehoboth on July 22, was buried at his hometown on Saturday.

Among the speakers at his funeral service was Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop Zephania Kameeta, a friend of the Beukes family who described Beukes as a brave man and a fighter who had never hesitated to speak his mind. Beukes – a shoemaker by trade – was politically active for decades, often petitioning the United Nations on behalf of the people of Namibia before Independence and fiercely critical of South African rule over Namibia.Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab, who also spoke at the funeral, remembered Beukes as “a social gadfly like the prophet Jeremiah of antiquity.He hailed from the ashes of poverty right here but became a giant of a man, leaving for his family and community a vibrant cultural legacy.”He also remarked:”Hermanus Beukes was an exceedingly stubborn man who bowed before nobody in submission.In that he was an authentic and fearless Namibian hero.”Beukes – a shoemaker by trade – was politically active for decades, often petitioning the United Nations on behalf of the people of Namibia before Independence and fiercely critical of South African rule over Namibia.Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurirab, who also spoke at the funeral, remembered Beukes as “a social gadfly like the prophet Jeremiah of antiquity.He hailed from the ashes of poverty right here but became a giant of a man, leaving for his family and community a vibrant cultural legacy.”He also remarked:”Hermanus Beukes was an exceedingly stubborn man who bowed before nobody in submission.In that he was an authentic and fearless Namibian hero.”