Photo: Glenneis Kriel
Bertus Goosen and his daughter, Nicoline, who came all the way from Botswana to compete in Nampo’s Boerepatente competition, pranked visitors with what was labelled a ‘crackling pot’ at the start of the competition.
The pot sounded an alarm that echoed across the showgrounds when visitors opened the lid of the pot.
Pranks over the years
Goosen, whom was attending the competition for a 23rd time this year, has been responsible for various other pranks at the competition over the years.
One year, he told Farmer’s Weekly, he developed a box with peeping holes through which people were able to view a beautiful landscape. On the one side of the box there was a button, labelled ‘light’, which switched a light on inside the box.
A button, labelled ‘turn page’, was located on the other side. However, instead of turning the page, pushing the button resulted in water being sprayed onto the front of the non-expecting viewer.
Goosen recalls that the late Henning Botes, who at the time worked for Omnia, decided to take the joke even further, by adding vinegar and cooking oil to the water. Victims, in effect, had to walk with a foul smelling, oil stain for the rest of the day.
Another year, Goosen created a photo album with laminated photos of women. The first was of a woman in a spectacular evening gown, followed by photographs of women, who on each page wore less than the previous.
Then as the viewer turned to the last page, an electric current was activated that shocked the viewer, to the entertainment of all the onlookers.
Goosen had also made a few Jack-in-a-Box type pranks over the year, primarily using a snake that shot out of a cupboard once the cupboard was opened.
With one of these variations, he took a baboon mask with an open mouth, and added orange lights behind its eyes to make it look ‘supernatural’. This was placed inside a black chest, to which Goosen added a motor to make the chest shake once the lid was opened and the baboon mask flew out.
“The pranks have almost become like a tradition, adding some fun to the competition,” Goosen said.
