Insurance fraud: Victim's uncle details accused’s ‘shady’ conduct around funeral
Gauteng nurse Sithembile Xulu and her co-accused, Simon Mogale, appeared briefly in the Lenasia Magistrates Court, where their case was postponed to next Wednesday.
The postponement is to allow for authorities to verify the alternative address that Mogale provided.
It’s alleged that Sithembile Xulu solicited Mogale’s help to kill Busiswa Nxumalo in January 2022 after Xulu fraudulently registered her with at least one insurance company.
The deceased’s body was discovered near a dumping site close to Xulu’s home, and Xulu allegedly told Nxumalo’s family that she was killed in a mob attack.
The deceased’s uncle, Njabulo Nxumalo, said on Tuesday that he had never met Xulu until he saw her in court.
“She kept calling home [in KwaZulu-Natal] and telling them that I was with her in Gauteng. She assured them that all was going well with the funeral preparations. I was confused because I had never seen her.”
He said they spoke on the phone when Busiswa was killed, and the accused offered to assist with the burial in their home province of KZN.
Nxumalo added that Xulu promised the family R14,000, which she claimed was from social workers.
Instead, he says they were sent back home with a rundown car hired to transport his niece, who was naked in her coffin, despite Xulu assuring their relatives in KZN that he had bought the deceased clothes for the burial.
“The Friday we travelled, I was meant to meet her at the mortuary, but she never arrived, and my calls to her were no longer going through. The men in the wrecked van came to tell us that she had sent them [Xulu], and they were there to collect the child.
“We got on the road. I still could not reach her, and when we reached Standerton, the car that was transporting the corpse just stopped. I don’t know how she found out about the breakdown, but she then sent me R500 and said it was for fuel.”
It’s alleged the accused have received more than R700,000 in funeral cover payouts.
Nxumalo said Xulu didn’t come to the funeral, but her mother was sent to provide catering.
He claimed the mother accused them of saying Xulu was involved in the victim’s death. Xulu later filed a harassment complaint with the police, and he was warned to stop calling her.
Nxumalo said they questioned why Xulu had not come to the funeral and told the family how their child was killed. Their suspicions were stoked when they were contacted by insurance companies who revealed his niece was insured for at least R2 million.
The state is alleging that Xulu was hoping to pocket R6 million from the fraudulent insurance claims.
The uncle said he was reduced to tears when he saw the accused because she had used his name to cover her tracks, like using his details to attain her death certificate, when she knew her true intentions.
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