Family Of Viral #OldMutual Body bag Video Speaks Out. The family in KwaZulu-Natal that went with a relative’s body to Old Mutual to get a policy pay-out of R30 000 was traumatised by the incident.
The family in KZN that went with a relative’s body to Old Mutual to get a policy pay-out of R30 000 was traumatised by the incident. A family representative, Ntombenhle Mhlongo, says thehe family was dealing with a lot of things at time. She says the organisation was refusing to give them money.
“We were coping with so many different things during that time. We are not rich people. We are poor and they were refusing to pay is. We are still so heartbroken,” Ntombenhle Mhlongo told News24. The family representative was part of the family members that were seen on the video recording carrying the body of the late Sifiso Mtshali to the Old Mutual offices to show that he has passed away.
Ntombenhle says they have treated by unprofessional workers who did not want to assist the family. The family has been fighting to get the claim procedure done for nine days. The man passed away on the 7th of November and the family went to the offices on the 11th of November to get the R30 000 policy payout. Ntombenhle Mhlongo says they were told that they needed to wait for 48 hours before they could get anything, to which they followed each instruction. They then went to the offices on the 14th of November after not getting a response from the offices.
“We went in and waited all of Thursday. They kept telling us we had to wait for an assessment but eventually, they said we must come on Friday. We got there early in the morning and waited three hours. When we asked what was taking so long, they again said the assessment was happening and we must wait another three hours later,” says Ntombenhle Mhlongo. The family then became frustrated because they wanted to give him a proper burial on Sunday. The family thus organised with the staff from the mortuary and the funeral parlour to get the body to the offices.
“When we did that, they paid us immediately. They never said anything about the assessment after that. We were so frustrated, sad and going through so many emotions and they put us through even more. If we could afford lawyers, we would sue them, but we are poor people. They hurt us,” says the family representative.
by Alexandra Ramaite
