The alleged scammers who fraudulently killed a 27-year-old University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) student to claim a funeral policy from Capitec Bank will not be prosecuted after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew the case and the docket was closed.

The victim, Thandeka Majola was officially informed about this decision by the South African police Service (SAPS) through an SMS yesterday.

“Message from SAPS.Investigation in CHATSWORTH ref nr CAS 672/1/2025 – Case has been withdrawn and the docket has been closed. Withdrawn by: SENIOR PUBLIC PROSECUTOR/PUBLIC PROSECUTOR . Reason for withdrawal: NOLLE PROSECUTE,” reads the SMS.

Majola only discovered that she was a walking dead woman on December 27, 2023, when she tried to transfer money to her Capitec account. 

When the transaction bounced, she went to her branch at Pinecrest in Pinetown to enquire about the matter. 

When she got there, the bank told her that the account was closed because she had been declared dead by someone who claimed a funeral policy, which had been taken in her name. 

“The bank refused to tell me who cashed out the fraudulent policy and how much was paid out. They told me to go to Home Affairs to report the matter while they were still conducting their internal investigation about the matter. This incident has turned my life down as I am funded by NSFAS, and my funding would be affected, and so would be my studies,” Majola told African Times.

Majola claims that when she visited the offices of Home Affairs in Chatsworth in Durban, it was confirmed that she was declared dead by someone called Jabulani Eric Mkhize.

They gave her all the documents that were used. 

She said what was strange was that Mkhize used a police affidavit and death certificate, which was signed off by a doctor based in Isipingo in the south of Durban. Mkhize allegedly claimed that Majola did not have an ID, so she produced a birth certificate.

The Department of Home Affairs allegedly failed to check Mkhize’s claims regarding the ID and processed the death certificate. Home Affairs has since resolved Majola’s matter while still conducting an internal investigation. 

The SAPS in the province referred all questions to the NPA since they are the ones who took the decision. The NPA asked to be given time to look at the docket and respond. 

However, after a month of waiting, they were not forthcoming with answers as to why they were not prosecuting the culprits.