James The Boptist

At Rhodes University, Phillips used at least two aliases, initially he was known as Bartholomew Biased. Later, when he joined a local Presbyterian church, he was called James the Boptist.

When he met Shaun Naidoo for the first time, Phillips’s strange appearance made a big impression on his fellow student. According to Naidoo, Phillips was playing guitar and his head was almost completely shaved. Phillips was wearing an overcoat that had been patched in various places. A home-made badge on Phillips’s jacket read: “You’ve got to be crazy to look at me this way”’.