Families seek justice after undertaker's case is provisionally struck off

"It does not mean the end."

These were the words of the magistrate at the Kuils River Magistrate's Court yesterday, as she  struck the matter off the roll against Kraaifontein funeral undertaker, Petrus Booysen. 

Booysen made headlines in the Cape Argus in January when he was accused of burying people as paupers instead of cremating them, and issuing fake cremation certificates to families.

More than ten families broke their silence this year, saying their loved ones were not cremated but buried as paupers in Welmoed Cemetery in Kuils River. 

In one case the family has yet to find their 94-year-old mother’s remains.

The police have since confiscated ashes from the families meant for DNA testing as part of the investigation.

But the families' nightmare continued on Wednesday when the magistrate struck the matter off the roll provisionally to allow vital evidence such as the Western Cape High Court application for exhumations and DNA testing to be submitted.

Last month, Booysen’s legal team requested that the matter be set down for a final postponement due to the delay in evidence.

The magistrate on Wednesday hammered the State for not submitting the application to the High Court and for infringing on the rights of the victims and the accused.

“From the State, it seems everyone was aware the investigation had to be finalised before it could be placed on the roll,” she said.

“I don't know the content of the docket. It says 'fraud'.

“The request for further investigation, I granted it. I granted it for final. The matter was placed on the roll, if the State was fully aware of the seriousness of the matter,  why didn’t they treat it as such, no one knows when it will be investigated."

“We don't even know if the application for high court will be submitted next month. Now people come to court without any formality in the matter. The accused is out on a warning, I assume bail was not opposed. He has a right to a speedy trial."

“It is being infringed.

“Court is going to strike the matter off the roll.

“The matter can be placed back on the roll if there is an instruction from the DPP.

“It doesn't mean it is the end.

“It will give the investigating officer the time and close all the loop holes and then they can proceed.”

The Cape Argus approached Booysen for comment on Wednesday, to which he said: “I do not want to speak with you.”

The decision was not met well with the families who are devastated.

Anita Momberg, the daughter of Terisa Murray who was buried a pauper in August last year instead of being cremated, said they would not stop fighting for justice.

“What doesn't sit well with me, this captain in the police constantly assured us that an application for an exhumation was launched at the High Court and that they were waiting on the High Court to sign off on this application, only to hear in court today, the State prosecutor to the magistrate said that no such application was ever launched.

“In the absence of those who are mandated to sign off on the exhumation and DNA testing, we will never get this investigation completed.

“I will write to the NPA and say that the matter has been struck off the roll, it is the travesty of justice.

“We are devastated and it feels like the State wants to exhaust us emotionally but we will not give up the fight.

Nicolene Cushy, who kept her Fish Hoek father Johannes Francois Nel’s ashes for a year, only to be informed that he too was buried a pauper, said she was devastated.

“As a daughter who is still grieving, I am heartbroken and furious. This decision feels like a slap in the face to my family and to my father’s memory,” she said.

Wendy Damon, of the family who first raised the alarm, said they too were shocked.

They are the family of 94-year-old Rachel Trussell, who also believed she was cremated but they were given a stranger’s ashes and have yet to discover where she is buried.

“The City purposefully dragged out the investigations, knowing it will be struck off the roll. Why are they not granting permission for the exhumation to be done, if that is the evidence they need in order for this case to go on," she said.

Another family said they would be leaving Booysen in God’s hands. 

The City previously said it was not for them to comment as it was a police investigation.

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