UKZN Student’s Life Ruined After Being Fraudulently Declared Dead To Claim Capitec Bank Funeral Policy 

FUNERAL POLICY FRAUD: Capitec Bank closed UKZN student Thandeka Majola’s account after she was fraudulently declared dead. Photo: Facebook

A 27-year-old University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) student from Durban has had her life turned upside down after she was fraudulently declared dead to cash out a funeral policy with Capitec Bank.

Thandeka 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 the 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. 

“My life has come to a complete standstill as Cpitec pushes me to Home Affairs and Home Affairs pushes me to the police. The police push me back to the bank, which is not helping me at all with the matter,” a distraught Majola said. 

Capitec Bank confirmed that Majola was declared dead, hence her bank account was closed. The bank said it could not do anything until the Department of Home Affairs changes her status to alive. 

“In this case, a funeral insurance claim was submitted in December 2024 with documents that were validated as legitimate, including those from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). The claim was approved based on confirming the complainant’s status as deceased in the DHA database.

“Since Ms Majola is still listed as deceased on DHA’s system, we cannot reinstate her account until DHA updates her status. To resolve this, she must report the fraud to SAPS, obtain an affidavit, and submit these documents to DHA for correction. Once DHA confirms the update, Capitec will expedite the reinstatement of her account,” the bank said when the African Times asked it about the matter. 

The Department of Home Affairs spokesperson, David Hlabane, did not immediately respond when asked about the matter. His response would be added as and when we receive it. 

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