Dr Lawrence Konyana, deputy president of the National Funeral Directors' Association of South Africa, advises people who wish to apply for funeral cover to make sure to choose an accredited business.
This comes after some Musina residents who applied for funeral cover through a local funeral service never received recourse payments at the death of their loved ones. Upon investigation, the company in question was found never to have been registered as an authorised financial services provider (FSP).
Rambau Funeral & Tombstone Supply's first offices were established in Tshivhilidulu village within the Thulamela Municipality in 2018, and the Musina offices were officially opened in 2021. However, several complaints have been received that the owner, Lufuno David Rambau, does not honour his financial obligations towards his clients.
Rendani Christinah Manengena and Annah Mathape from Musina were also clients of Rambau Funeral & Tombstone Supply and spoke to Limpopo Mirror about their misfortune with the company.
"It is good to have a funeral policy in case of death. As a family of 11, we took out a funeral plan with Rambau Funeral Services in 2018, contributing a total of R390 per month. One of our family members passed away in December 2021, so we immediately called Rambau and informed him about the unfortunate situation. Since December to date, we still have not received the recourse payment, valued at R14 850," said Manengena.
Mathape, on the other hand, started contributing to her funeral policy with Rambau Funeral & Tombstone Supply in October last year, with a premium of R100 per month. One of her relatives, who was included in the policy, passed away in February this year. Her policy entitled her to a casket, tombstone and groceries worth R2 500. Mathape claims that her family had to foot the funeral bill from their own pockets, as Rambau did not pay the recourse on their policy.
When the media questioned Rambau about the allegations against him, he argued that Mathape was not entitled to groceries, as there was a six-month waiting period for that benefit. He could not answer why he had not provided the casket and tombstone and terminated the call before the interview was over.
A former employee at the company showed Limpopo Mirror an invoice that reflects Rambau Funeral & Tombstone Supply's "registration number", but according to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), that registration number (2018/068991/07) does not appear on their records, which means that Rambau Funeral & Tombstone Supply is not an authorised FSP.
Rambau's offices had been shut down in the meantime, according to sources we spoke to, because he was not running his business as per the financial sector's conduct regulations.
Dr Konyana says that funeral service providers need to display their FSP licenses or jurisdiction representative certificates in their offices for clients to see. "This gives clients assurance, should such a situation arise. In this case, the clients should report to the relevant authorities such as the ombudsman," he said.