Johannesburg - The family of slain Bafana Bafana captain Senzo Meyiwa say they are frustrated by the protracted delays in the payout of their son’s life insurance policy, as investigations into his murder drag on.
Eight months after the goalkeeper was shot and killed at his pop star girlfriend Kelly Khumalo’s house in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, Meyiwa’s family are yet to receive his life policy payment.
Meyiwa’s insurance policy is, like the rest of professional players in the country, administered by the PSL and underwritten by Delphisure Group Insurance.
The Star can also reveal that Meyiwa’s life insurance police was valued at R5 million at the time of his death.
The Bafana skipper was slain in October in what was widely believed to have been a hit.
His father Sam told The Star the family were struggling to cope with the financial burden of caring for his young family.
He said his son’s former employers, Orlando Pirates, had repeatedly told of the difficulties in payment.
“I don’t know, I have been waiting for too long. They (Pirates) say they are still waiting for people who are supposed to pay,” he said.
Sam added: “The other day they said they are still waiting for the police report. It’s very frustrating, even my life is in danger now.”
The Star also understands that the PSL and the insurance company have approached the police asking for the docket because of pressure from Meyiwa’s family. This was confirmed by police spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale.
He said Sam had contacted the police to complain that the insurers had not paid out the policy because the investigations hadn’t been finalised.
“We informed him that our investigation should have no bearing on the insurance payout,” Makgale said, adding that the police “suspect no foul play in terms of insurance”.
“If insurance companies want them (the police) to, the investigating officer can fill in a form giving the case number and saying the case is still under investigation.”
So frustrated are the Meyiwas that they have approached the South African Football Players Union (Safpu) for intervention.
Safpu president Simba Marumo confirmed this. “As the union, we have engaged the PSL, but the process is going slowly. This is obviously frustrating for the family, but we trying to get the PSL to expedite the matter,” he said.
Makgale said the police were aware that it was a difficult time for Meyiwa’s family. “We are doing all we can by keeping Senzo’s father informed of the investigation and giving him feedback. We would love to say the case is all wrapped up. But telling the media every detail we give him is detrimental to the case,” he pointed out.
Makgale appealed for patience from the family, saying the pressure they were being put under was jeopardising investigations. He said that because of this disclosure of information, people they were looking for had now gone on the run.
“We can’t find them,” Makgale said. “We appeal to the father to please give us the space to investigate the case.
“We have done a lot of work and collected a lot of forensic material,” he said.
Pirates’ administrative manager, Floyd Mbele, referred all enquiries to the PSL. “I’m not aware of this. Contact the PSL because they take care of the life insurance for all the clubs,” he said.
PSL spokesman Lux September said: “On the matter of Senzo Meyiwa, as the PSL we have supplied all the required paperwork to the insurance company and now naturally, as is always the case where there’s a police investigation, there are processes taking place.”
Delphisure could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday.
Life insurance funds will depend on many things
Financial planner Ike Diale, who is an expert on life insurance matters, said the delay in the payout could be due to the kind of policy the Premier Soccer League had taken out.
“A life cover like this would usually fall under a group scheme, which is governed by the Pension Funds Act, specifically section 27C, which deals with the distribution of death benefits.
“Because of that it will take a little longer to process, especially if you include the circumstances around the death that have been in the papers,” he said.
Diale added that if the money were paid out, the Meyiwas would have difficulty getting it.
“Beneficiaries are usually the deceased’s children, so if Senzo’s dad was a financial dependant, he would have to prove it.
“This may be difficult because a lot of the time in African families, financial support is given in cash, the buying of groceries or taking family to the doctor. That is tricky to prove.”
Diale noted that Senzo’s youngest child, mothered by singer Kelly Khumalo, was likely to gain the most from the payout.
“They look at the youngest dependant and give them a larger portion, so the singer’s child would have a claim.”
The Star