Part Two: Editor-at-large Everson Luhanga reports on the murder of a young Alexandra mother in a chilling insurance scam. The prime suspect, her boyfriend, remains at large.
Insurance fraud in South Africa has become a deadly business where criminals exploit weaknesses in the system and corrupt officials to profit from innocent lives—and deaths. This eight-part series exposes the reality behind these crimes.
On 30 November 2019, 29-year-old Dumisile Khumalo, a mother of two, disappeared without a trace. Her family, consumed with worry, desperately searched for her.
But days later, far from her Alexandra home, Dumisile’s body was discovered in the bushes on the other side of town near Boksburg. Her throat had been brutally slit.
She had been the victim of a complex life insurance fraud. Like hundreds of others in South Africa in recent years, she was murdered for an insurance payout.
Weeks before her death, Dumisile’s boyfriend – who cannot be named – had paid large premiums into a funeral policy for her.
While her family continued their search, a mysterious sangoma and another woman posed as grieving relatives at the Boksburg Police Station.
The police, unaware of the family’s ongoing search in Alexandra, were convinced by the women’s acts of sorrow and allowed them to identify the body at the mortuary.
Since Dumisile disappeared in Alexandra, far from where her body was discovered near Boksburg, her mother, 62-year-old Zanele Khumalo, was not immediately informed.
Zanele had taken over caring for Dumisile’s two young children and was spending night and day looking for her.
Zanele later told Scrolla.Africa that was all pointless, as the sangoma and her accomplice were already claiming a huge payout on Dumisile’s funeral policy.
She said that an insurance company visited her home in Vosloorus and told her that “millions” of rands had been claimed after her daughter’s death.
She said she knows for certain that R30,000 was paid out over a funeral policy from Standard Bank, but she thinks there are countless others Dumisile’s boyfriend may have taken out.
Dumisile’s boyfriend is accused of hiring hitmen to murder her, then organising the sangoma to falsely identify her body and claim the insurance payout.
However, the scam was stopped in its tracks shortly after Dumisile’s body was identified.
It began to unravel when the sangoma arranged for a hearse to transport Dumisile’s body to her house. Suspicious residents, unaware of any death in the sangoma’s household, alerted the police, leading to the body being redirected to a private mortuary.
With the case reopened, Zanele was able to identify her daughter’s body.
Justice, however, has still not been served. The sangoma and her accomplice were arrested, but their case was withdrawn for further investigations. Dumisile’s boyfriend and the hitmen remain at large.
Dumisile’s brother Nkosinathi Khumalo said her sister loved her two daughters.
Scrolla.Africa is exposing South Africa’s deadly life insurance fraud industry in this eight-part series, inspired by Everson Luhanga’s explosive investigation into serial killer cop Rosemary Ndlovu. Missed it? Go read the full series now.
In part one we reported that in South Africa, fraudsters easily create fake funeral policies, recruit corrupt officials, and even commit murder to claim payouts—all exploiting an industry with virtually no security checks.
