GRAVE CONCERN
POLICE are investigating a sixth case of fraud against a Kaapse undertaker after another family came forward that their father was buried a pauper instead of being cremated.
The Fish Hoek family of Johannes Francois Jacobus Nel, 57, kept his ashes inside their home for a year, believing it belonged to their beloved father.
But following reports that Petrus Booysen of St Francis Funeral Home in Kraaifontein had been arrested last month after five families came forward accusing of sending them “fake ashes and burying some as paupers”, the Nels did some digging of their own.
Nel’s heartbroken wife, Priscilla, and daughter, Nicolene Cushy, made the shocking discovery after they were shown a copy of the Cape Argus and immediately alerted City officials last Thursday and were then advised to open a case with police.
Police have since confirmed the sixth case. Sergeant Wesley Twigg explained: “A fraud case was registered for further investigation at Ocean View SAPS and transferred to Kuils River SAPS.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.”
The City of Cape Town said in their response when asked about the sixth case: “Please direct your inquiry to SAPS as this is an active criminal investigation.”
Nel passed away on 19 December 2023 and the family received the ashes on 7 January 2024. But he was buried a pauper on 22 February 2024 and the family made the discovery almost a year later.
Cushny said the family was devastated after visiting her father’s grave on Saturday, 15 February, which was in an appalling state and learnt that he had been buried among other paupers without a tombstone.
They also found out that he had been buried two months after his death while the family were in possession of so-called ashes.
Cushny says: “My mother called me and asked me to take a photograph of the sticker at the bottom of the box of my father’s ashes and my grandmother’s.
“I was suspicious about the undertaker from the start because we wanted the ashes before January 8 last year and he came with a box with a cracked name plate.
“The City of Cape Town confirmed that my father was never cremated.Their records showed that he was buried in a public grave and we were told to contact the Captain at Kuils River Police Station.”
Cushny said they were even more devastated when they learnt that they had received ashes while their father’s body lay somewhere waiting to be buried.
She adds: “My husband opened the box and it resembles dried cement and when we compared it to my grandmother it did not look the same.
She said the Captain assigned to the case collected the ashes on Sunday, where forensic testing will be done.
Cushney adds: “We want his body to be exhumed so we can bury him ourselves.
“The City and the police said that it will be at our own cost.”
