Living in sin
A Home Affairs glitch reveals that Hilda and Oubaas aren’t actually legally married.
There’s no cuter couple in Hillside than Oubaas and his “lily” Hilda (Pierre van Pletzen and Annelisa Weiland). Sure, they fight from time to time and that sometimes leads to Hilda bringing out her infamous sheet to separate her and Oubaas in bed, but they always smoothe things over and reunite. However, there’s trouble in paradise on Thursday 7 January when Oubaas discovers that they’re not legally married, putting him in a moral dilemma.
PASSPORT PROBLEMS
On Tuesday 29 December, Oubaas went to visit his mom Moekie on the family farm in Rondomskrik. She asked him to fly to Amsterdam on her behalf to fetch a family heirloom and that led to Oubaas coming up with the plan to surprise Hilda with a European holiday. On Monday 4 January, Oubaas makes a shocking discovery while looking for his and Hilda’s passports – his bride’s surname is still her maiden name De Kock and not Van Zyl like his. Speaking as his character Oubaas, Pierre recalls the revelation: “My mouth was opening and closing like a chicken’s backside and my brain was melting like a frozen dessert in the heat. All I could do was mutter ‘Oh, my little cabbage leaf. We’re in trouble now’.” So Oubaas decides to go to Home Affairs to settle the matter.
SHOCKING NEWS
Excited about their upcoming adventure in Europe, Oubaas forgets about the passport situation but on Thursday 7 January, he gets some shocking news when an official from Home Affairs phones him to tell him that he and Hilda aren’t legally married and that there’s no paperwork to prove that they’re a couple. “After this, I went ice cold in shock,” Pierre-as- Oubaas says. “Then I was overcome by dread – I became more scared than I’ve ever been of our government, SARS or even our roads. I then collapsed slowly onto the flat of my back with my legs hovering above me. I could count my feet… due to the anxiety, there were suddenly seven of them!”
IT’S GETTING AWKWARD
Oubaas walks around with the bad news hanging like a noose from his neck on Friday 8 January and avoids Hilda like the plague. He now knows that they’ve been living in sin for many years, so he can’t even look his “naartjie pip” in the eye, let alone share the same bed. Pierre-as- Oubaas says it’s very tempting to go back to their old ways and pretend he doesn’t know their marriage is an accidental sham. “I’m a man of flesh and warm blood. How will I ever resist the temptation not to be with my lily-stem?” he asks. Crestfallen, Oubaas summons the pastor to his flat on Wednesday 13 January for some counselling. In simple terms, the pastor tells Oubaas that he and Hilda will have to renew their vows. And that’s when Oubaas has his second lightbulb moment…