Man allegedly exposes himself to grieving family

A family was left traumatised after a cemetery worker allegedly exposed himself to them when they were visiting the grave of their father and husband around 15:00 last Friday, October 28.

The Potgieter family were visiting the grave of Christoffel Potgieter to pay their respects to their late father and husband on his birthday at the Heatherdale Cemetery.

The family were handling flower arrangements and pot plants around the grave and took some pictures to commemorate Potgieter’s birthday. Annette Jacobs, Potgieter’s daughter, then went to put some items in their car when a man standing behind a tree called to her nearby Potgieter’s grave.

This is when she realised that the man was exposing himself to her and fondling himself.

Annette Jacobs (55), alarmed, asked the man what he was doing, “he said ‘helping myself’, still with his genitals exposed.”

The man then walked to a bench near Jacob’s father’s grave, where she said he continued touching himself.

Jacobs said that she was deeply disturbed by the incident. Jacobs told Rekord that her mother, Annatjie Potgieter, who is 79, was also deeply affected by the incident, “My mum needed [tranquiliser] medication when we got home”.

Jacobs said that what made the incident worse was that it was so difficult to find support.

The security company told Jacobs that the SAPS had been called, but they never arrived. Jacobs said that the security company told her that they had contacted the man’s supervisor, but that there was no response.

Once Jacobs’ husband arrived, the security company had handcuffed the man.

The security company told Jacobs that they knew the man and that he worked at the cemetery.

Afterwards, the security officials told the family that the man had been urinating and was not doing what Jacobs alleged. Jacobs said that she saw clearly what he was doing and said that he even called her over.

The family drove to Pretoria North police station to open a case. They were finally helped, but the officer told them that the incident needed to be reported at the Akasia police station as it was not in the Pretoria North jurisdiction.

Jacobs said that they were not able to go to the other station that day as she and her mother were traumatised and needed to get home to calm down. She said that she would go to the police on Monday to try open a case.

Jacobs told Rekord that she is still upset by the incident, “I am still shaking now”.

A supervisor at VHUGI Protection Services, the private security responsible for security at the cemetery, confirmed the incident to Rekord, saying that the incident had been reported to them.

He said that the alleged perpetrator was a municipal worker, and known to the security company’s staff. He said that the company would follow up on the incident.

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