Home Affairs official fired in insurance scam as…

… man declared dead while alive

MBABANE – A living man was declared dead after a Home Affairs official issued a death certificate in his name without the required supporting documents.

Dumsane Kunene was declared dead by the State after Assistant Regional Civil Registrar Vuyisile Ndzinisa processed and issued a death certificate in his name, despite the required supporting documents not being available.

The case has now resulted in the dismissal of the Home Affairs official who issued the certificate after she admitted that she knew she was not supposed to do so.

The death certificate was subsequently used to solicit insurance money, prompting a fraud investigation by the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS).

The insurance fraud came to light when a relative of Kunene went to claim the money and informed the officers handling the claim that Kunene had died while undergoing treatment.

This was contrary to the information contained in the death certificate, which had initially recorded that Kunene had died at home.

The discrepancy prompted further scrutiny of the certificate, which was subsequently found to be fraudulent.

Ndzinisa was found guilty of dishonesty by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and dismissed from the Public Service with immediate effect.

The case is contained in a CSC decision dated July 27, 2026.

The decision provides an account of how a living person could be recorded as dead through the country’s civil registration system.

The case also bears similarities to cases that have been reported in South Africa, where fraudulent death registrations have been linked to attempts to obtain insurance payouts.

South African media have previously reported cases in which living people were falsely declared dead after their identities were used to obtain insurance benefits.

In one case reported by IOL in 2023, a Port Shepstone woman, Phindile Lukhozi, was declared dead after her identity document was stolen, while an unidentified body was allegedly used in an attempt to support insurance claims.

Police were investigating claims that at least R500 000 had been obtained from insurance companies.

Another South African case reported by IOL involved a man who discovered that he had been declared dead after losing access to his bank account.

He believed his stolen identity document had been used to obtain life insurance before a fraudulent death certificate was issued in his name.

South Africa’s Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) has also previously warned about fraudulent death claims, including cases involving fake death certificates and the use of bodies to support insurance claims.

In 2018, life insurers rejected 1 915 funeral claims worth R176.4 million, with 1 127 involving fraudulent documentation, according to figures reported by News24.

There have also been cases in which South African Home Affairs employees were linked to fraudulent death registrations.

In 2013, IOL reported the arrest of a Home Affairs employee who was allegedly part of a syndicate that falsely registered a man as dead in an attempted R50 000 funeral-policy claim. According to the CSC decision, the latest case dates back to September 25, 2025. Ndzinisa, who was then working as an Assistant Civil Registrar in Nhlangano, was approached by Sibusiso Dlamini, a government employee based at the Ministry of Tinkhundla.

Dlamini reportedly asked her to process a death certificate for his relative, Kunene, whom he claimed had died.

Ndzinisa told the commission that she explained to Dlamini that there were documents that had to be produced before the death certificate could be issued.

These included Kunene’s identity document, marriage certificate and a letter from the umphakatsi.

She also told the commission that the procedure required the death to be reported by the deceased’s wife or a blood relative.

Dlamini reportedly did not have the documents. He is said to have promised to bring them once he had obtained them.

Despite this, the death certificate was issued. Kunene was still alive.

The CSC heard that Ndzinisa knew that she was not supposed to issue the certificate without the supporting documents. She nevertheless did so. She also did not cancel the death certificate or report the matter to her superiors.

It was only after she was approached by Regional Civil Registrar Phathizwe Hlatshwayo, who questioned her about the supporting documents that she disclosed what had happened.

According to the decision, Ndzinisa was initially evasive before eventually informing Hlatshwayo about the circumstances surrounding the certificate. She admitted to the commission that she knew the proper procedure and that deviating from it was an offence.

The matter subsequently took another turn when the ministry was informed by REPS that it was investigating a fraud case in which the death certificate had allegedly been used to solicit insurance money.

The ministry’s Legal Advisor, Nhlanhla Dlamini, told the CSC that the matter was serious because the certificate issued by Ndzinisa had been used to facilitate fraud.

He submitted that her conduct had brought the Ministry of Home Affairs into disrepute and placed government in a bad standing.

He further argued that Ndzinisa should have been particularly vigilant because of the sensitivity of her position. Ndzinisa pleaded guilty to the charge of dishonesty in contravention of Section 49(g) of the Public Service Act of 2018.

Section 49(g) provides that it is misconduct for a public officer to: “Engage in a dishonest act.”

In mitigation, she told the commission that she was 49 years old, did not have children and asked for leniency.

She said it had not been her intention to cause the dishonesty. The CSC, however, found the offence serious. The commission said dishonesty and abuse of office strike at the heart of the Public Service.

The CSC, chaired by lawyer Simanga Mamba, found that Ndzinisa had issued the death certificate without the required supporting documents and that the certificate had subsequently been used to facilitate alleged fraud. The commission said her conduct had brought the Ministry of Home Affairs into disrepute.

It further found that the trust relationship between Ndzinisa and government had been irretrievably broken. She was found guilty and dismissed from the Public Service with immediate effect.

The case comes against the backdrop of the ministry’s ongoing investigation into corruption dating back two decades.

Uprooting corruption in the Ministry of Home Affairs was something deceased Minister, Princess Lindiwe, was dedicated to. She expressed commitment to this pursuit several times with one instance being when this publication broke the story of South African alleged crime boss Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ allegedly found in possession of Eswatini national identity card.

In March, this publication reported that Home Affairs had launched a 20-year internal investigation into some of its officers following a crackdown on corruption involving the alleged illegal issuance of State documents.

The ministry was reviewing the activities of officers and documents issued by them following the arrest and suspension of officials allegedly implicated in cases involving State documents.

The investigation followed earlier reports by this publication concerning alleged abuse of the ministry’s computer systems. In August 2025, an investigation into the alleged fraudulent issuance of an Eswatini identity document reportedly uncovered allegations of an organised syndicate operating within the ministry.

Among the allegations was that corrupt officials used credentials belonging to deceased employees to access ministry systems. Investigators also examined alleged fraudulent work permits, irregularities involving births, marriages and deaths, passports and photo-swapping, in which a foreign national’s photograph was allegedly substituted for that of a liSwati applicant. There were also allegations of bribes being paid to facilitate government services.

The investigation involved law-enforcement agencies and the Anti-Corruption Commission, with the Royal Science and Technology Park enlisted to investigate individuals accessing the ministry’s systems.

The allegations have since resulted in disciplinary action against several Home Affairs employees. In December 2025, the CSC dismissed typists Sandra Dlamini and Penelope Kunene after finding them guilty of misconduct linked to identity-document processing. The case involved allegations that identities belonging mainly to elderly emaSwati women were used to register foreign nationals as their children, enabling them to obtain birth certificates, identity documents and passports.

More recently, the CSC found Assistant Regional Civil Registrar Nonhlanhla Malambe guilty of unlawfully processing an Eswatini birth certificate and national identity card for Matlala. The commission found that Malambe registered a birth certificate under the name Vusimuzi Dlamini and later issued an Eswatini identity card without the necessary source documents. The birth registration falsely identified Thembi Christinah Zulu as the mother.

The CSC found that Malambe’s conduct was not merely an administrative error, but a violation of established procedures that compromised national security, border integrity and the sovereignty of Eswatini. Malambe is facing 17 criminal charges before the Mbabane Magistrates Court and has pleaded not guilty.

The disciplinary action has also extended beyond registration officials. In August, the CSC dismissed cleaners Euphodia Nomthandazo Hlophe and Sindisiwe Mamba after they admitted soliciting money from members of the public to facilitate birth and marriage certificates. Hlophe received E2 370 from three people, while Mamba received E2 770 from five people. The CSC said Mamba had abused her association with the ministry to mislead members of the public and solicit money for services provided by government.

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