Although Keet was an Afrikaner, English influences "were by no means outside his ken". The congregation in Humansdorp had the option of attending an evening service in English twice a month and young Bennie, as he was known, was friends with the son of the local "English preacher", despite the looming threat of the Anglo-Boer War (Second Boer War). De Beer is of the opinion that Keet's friendship with English-speaking children, with their differing language, beliefs and habits, helped to develop his relatively liberal character (1992:14), (1992:15).