Sixth Cape Town family falls victim to funeral home pauper scandal
Cape Town - Police are investigating a sixth case of fraud against an undertaker after another Cape Town family came forward after finding out their father was buried a pauper instead of being cremated.
They made the grim discovery after reading a Cape Argus exposé into the suspected pauper and cremation scam allegedly by Petrus Booysen of St Francis Funeral home in Kraaifontein, which prompted their own investigation.
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.
This, as Booysen was arrested in January after five families came forward saying their loved ones were buried as paupers at Welmoed Cemetery, Kuils River, and they had received “fake” ashes, which they believed could be another substance or that of someone else.
Booysen appeared in the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court and was granted R1 500 bail and is expected back in the dock on March 7.
The Cape Argus previously told the stories of Tersia Murray, 66, who died in August 2024 and was buried a pauper.
Another family is that of Rachel Trussell, 94, who also died in also in August 2024, and whose family have yet to find her remains after they believed she was cremated but were told she was buried a pauper.
The families also told the newspaper City officials and police have prompted that they foot the bill for DNA testing including exhumation which they vehemently refuse, stating it was a State investigation.
Now, Nel’s heartbroken widow, Priscilla, and daughter Nicolene Cushy, made the shocking discovery after they were shown a copy of the Cape Argus and immediately alerted City officials and were then advised to open a case with police.
Police have since confirmed the sixth case.
SAPS spokesperson, Wesley Twigg, said: “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 investigating officer Captain Ivan Williams can be contacted on 082 777 8382 with any information regarding similar incidents.”
The City of Cape Town said in their response when asked about the sixth case: “Please direct your enquiry to SAPS as this is an active criminal investigation.”
Cushny said the family was devastated after visiting her father’s grave on Saturday, February 15, which was in an appalling state.
She said they learnt that he had been buried among other paupers without a tombstone two months after his death, while the family were in possession of so-called ashes.
Nel passed away on December 19, 2023, and the family received the ashes on January 7, 2024.
He was buried a pauper on February 22, 2024, and the family made the discovery a year later, on February 13, 2025.
“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, but we learnt she was cremated,” she said.
“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 which name plate that was cracked.
“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 they had received ashes while their father’s body lay somewhere waiting to be buried.
“My husband opened the box and it resembles dried and hard cement and when we compared it to my grandmother it did not look the same,” she said.
She said the Captain assigned to the case collected the ashes on Sunday and forensic testing will be done.
“We want his body to be exhumed so we can bury him ourselves,” she added.
“The City and the police said that it will be at our own cost.
“I said they can get Booysen to do the exhumation as we had already paid R11 000 to him for a cremation.
“How can we trust another cremation now?”
The Cape Argus also made contact with Anita Momberg, Murray’s daughter, who said she is preparing to meet with City officials and police.
Trussell’s granddaughter, Wendy Damon, also confirmed that they would be meeting with City officials and the police soon.