SA couple to be cremated in Ireland

December 2014 South Africans Cornelius and Angie Billing who killed themselves. They had been living in Ireland.

December 2014 South Africans Cornelius and Angie Billing who killed themselves. They had been living in Ireland.

Published Dec 22, 2014

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Durban -

Good Samaritans have raised funds to fly home from Ireland the children of the South African couple who apparently knifed each other in a bloody custody fight.

Angelique Booysen, 27, and her husband, Cornelius Billing, 44, died on Wednesday. A forensic examination of their flat in Kildysart failed to reveal who had stabbed whom.

Booysen’s mother, Mossie van Niekerk, told the Daily News on Sunday that the couple’s bodies would be cremated in Ireland and that well-wishers would foot the bill.

They would also pay to bring the Mpumalanga couple’s children back to South Africa .

Van Niekerk told the Daily News she had spoken to and seen her grandchild, Pamela, 5, via Skype.

“They look good. They have undergone counselling in Ireland. The children are being cared for by two women in the village of Kildysart.

“Billing’s sister and I are working together to try to get the children back in the country,” she said.

She heaped praise on organisations in Ireland that had raised funds for airplane tickets, gifts for the children and cremation fees totalling R4 400.

The family has decided to have the couple cremated in Ireland and for the ashes to be returned to South Africa.

Van Niekerk said she would apply for an emergency passport this morning to fetch the children.

She said Billing lost both his parents some time ago. He has three sisters, one of them in Ireland and a brother who is physically challenged.

Although the couple had not been victims of crime, they had moved to Ireland in March to start a new life and escape crime in South Africa.

However the couple had financial trouble and Billing had prevented Booysen from returning to South Africa with the children.

Billing had worked as a civil engineer but had lost his job in Ireland.

“His health was not good and money was tight. The pressure and financial issues were the probable cause here,” she said.

Van Niekerk said they had been looking forward to seeing her daughter for Christmas. Now they have to remain strong for the children.

She said an anonymous caller phoned their church to get their details so he could set up a trust fund for the girls.

The Mirror reported that emergency workers in County Clare dealing with a separate fire in the area were alerted to the bloodbath when Booysen stumbled on to the street carrying one of her daughters on Wednesday evening.

Daily News

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