Grave secret at bottom of garden

Wessell van der Merwe sat calmly on a camping chair under the trees in his Houghton, Johannesburg, garden yesterday afternoon. Just metres away, two men lifted a body out of a grave.

Minutes later, he stood up, walked away and broke down in tears - the body is believed to be that of his father, Dr Russel van der Merwe, reported missing by a relative earlier in the week.

On Friday, Wessel pointed out the spot in the garden where months before he had buried his father. He confessed to burying the 78-year-old dentist there after he died of natural causes.

Asked how he felt yesterday, Wessel, 36, said it was "not right" for him to comment, before being whisked away by police to show them around the house.

Police spokesman Colonel Noxolo Kweza confirmed that a body had been removed from a grave in the corner of the garden, but said police would only be able to identify it at later.

Kweza said Wessel, who was held earlier for questioning, would not be charged at this stage, even though he had pointed out the grave.

Beeld reported that Wessel buried his father because a relative had made the sickly dentist sign certain documents. When Van der Merwe senior died, his son had panicked, Beeld said.