Recently the newspaper did an article on a resident, Gerhardus Petrus Steyn, who went missing five years ago.
We made it a front-page story, but I did not have much hope that he would be found since so much time had elapsed. Yet, late yesterday afternoon (11 February) on the day the newspaper had hit the streets, I received a WhatsApp from the Operation Job Creation (OJC Development) shelter saying they believe Oom Jollie, as he was known, is one of their residents.
I was elated. Could our newspaper have been instrumental in reuniting this family after five years? Not wanting to disappoint the family I arranged with the shelter to visit him this morning to decide whether we should call Oom Jollie’s relatives.
Around 9.45am I was taken to the man believed to be Oom Jollie. In the bed lay a frail old man with a grey beard. He had an uncanny resemblance to the photo I published in the newspaper. When I asked him his name he told me it is Petrus Gerhardus van Rensburg. His first names were correct but not the surname.
I remained positive knowing Oom Jollie suffered from either Alzheimer disease or dementia. Because Oom Jollie used to be a boxer in his young days, sharing the ring with legends such as Willie Toweel, I asked the elderly man whether he had boxed, to which he responded by slowly picking up his hand and making jabbing gestures. It had to be him! The shelter volunteers also told me that the man in front of me often mimicked a boxer when he roamed the yard.
Shaking with excitement and close to tears I phoned Oom Jollie’s niece Cornelia Rudman.
“I have good news. I think I found him.”
I could hear the tears in her voice.
She said she would come as soon as she could organise a lift because she was in an accident earlier in the week.
I returned to the office and with elation told my colleagues we have found Oom Jollie! Almost everyone had goose bumps. Although I am a hard-news junkie this rated as one of the highlights of my career. We were part of a miracle.
At 12pm Cornelia and three other family members arrived at the shelter. I was anxious. Three of them said he looked just like Oom Jollie, but one was not sure.
They asked him questions about his past and he indeed did remember little bits of his boxing career, which correlated with what the family knew. He even remembered when one of his opponents tragically died in the ring. He also could confirm that he remembered names of certain family members they spoke about.
When Cornelia asked him how long he has been on the street he explained he had sat in front of a cafe in Witpoortjie for three years. Before that he was roaming the streets for two years but he could not remember where. This also added up since Oom Jollie has been missing for five years!
The family decided to have DNA tests done to make sure the man at the shelter is Oom Jollie.
For now he will stay at the shelter until the test results are out.
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