Desperate to give her son a dignified send-off, a grieving Motherwell mother had to borrow money from friends when the funeral policy claim was rejected due to a mix-up at the department of home affairs.
While desperate to pay back the money, without a valid death certificate the 71-year-old woman said she had been sent from pillar to post for the past four months.
Gcineka Langbooi, 72, was told her late son had erroneously shared an identity number with someone else.
The Doves Funeral Services policy claim was accordingly rejected.
Mzoxolo Langbooi died on March 20, and his mother had borrowed R10,000 from members of her church to cover the funeral costs.
She was meant to repay them after the claim had cleared.
However, the issue took longer than Langbooi expected, as Doves was withholding her payout pending a valid death certificate.
“I am close to giving up, but I’m worried that people will get impatient and demand their money.
“Where will I get R10,000 to pay them back?
“I have been going back and forth with home affairs and Doves for months, but I keep being told that my issue will be sorted out,” she said.
When Mzoxolo died, Langbooi said she was given an abridged death certificate by the home affairs department in Gqeberha, with the department citing identity duplication issues.
However, Doves told her they could not approve the claim without an accurate record.
“I was told that my son seemingly shares his ID number with someone else.
“Whenever I followed up, I was told that records show that my son is still alive.
“At Doves, they said I should pay R10,000 for them to cover the funeral for me and that the money would be paid out once the death certificate issue has been resolved.
“It sounded like it wouldn’t take long to issue but now, whenever I follow up with home affairs, there is no solution,” she said.
Langbooi is the policy holder and Mzoxolo was listed as a beneficiary.
“I had to make a plan for my son to be buried because he did not have policies of his own.
“All I have is my old age grant, which I rely on to take care of myself and my unemployed grandchildren,” she said.
Doves spokesperson Shampene Mphaloane said the company relied on home affairs’ national population register to provide accurate records before they could approve any claims.
He said the company upheld a strict condition that the death of an individual had to be recorded on the national population register before a claim could be approved.
“In instances where home affairs is unable to capture the death of an individual on their population register, we are then put in a difficult position to settle a claim because the individual has not been captured as deceased.
“I empathise entirely with the family but we are dependent on home affairs for the protection of other policy holders,” Mphaloane said.
Mphaloane said the company was cautious of such cases because they could potentially give leeway for fraudulent activity.
He said they had previously dealt with similar cases and claims were approved within 24 hours of the home affairs department resolving the issue from their side.
Home affairs provincial manager Gcinile Mabulu said they were busy resolving the issue.
Mabulu said the issue was a work in progress.
“As soon as we settle the administrative part of it, we shall appraise you,” he said.
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