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1. Burial Societies in South Africa: Risk, Trust & Commercialisation Rob Thomson & Deborah Posel
2. Outline of presentation Types & actuarial features of burial societies
Strengths & weaknesses
Illegal & undesirable practices
Challenges
3. Types of burial societies
4. Types of burial societies
5. Types of burial societies
6. Actuarial features of burial societies
7. Actuarial features of burial societies
8. Actuarial features of burial societies
9. Actuarial features of burial societies
10. The strengths of burial societies
11. The strengths of burial societies
12. The strengths of burial societies
13. The strengths of burial societies
14. The weaknesses of burial societies
15. The weaknesses of burial societies
16. The weaknesses of burial societies
17. The weaknesses of burial societies
18. Illegal activities Burial societies:
if benefits exceed R5000, or if not exempted or registered
19. Illegal activities Burial societies:
if benefits exceed R5000, or if not exempted or registered
Undertakers/administrators:
unlicensed insurance business
sum assured applied to funeral costs with no cash option
tax evasion
fly-by-nights
mafia-style operations against competitors
20. Undesirable activities Insurers:
loans of insurance licences to undertakers
21. Undesirable activities Insurers:
loans of insurance licences to undertakers
Actuaries:
pricing & valuing contracts that ignore members’ expectations
22. Undesirable activities Insurers:
loans of insurance licences to undertakers
Actuaries:
pricing & valuing contracts that ignore members’ expectations
Administrators/undertakers:
forced registration
undermining burial societies’ autonomy
overpricing
non-disclosure
23. Challenges to the burial society movement AIDS
24. Challenges to the burial society movement AIDS
Organise
negotiate funeral costs
end exploitation by formal sector
25. Challenges to the burial society movement AIDS
Organise
negotiate funeral costs
end exploitation by formal sector
Improve skills
risk-rating
control of fraud
26. Challenges to the burial society movement AIDS
Organise
negotiate funeral costs
end exploitation by formal sector
Improve skills
risk-rating
control of fraud
Adapt or die
27. Challenges from the burial society movement To government:
revise FS legislation*
stop illegal insurance practices
curb commission on funeral policies*
curb loans of insurance licenses to undertakers*
*subject to a review process involving burial societies
28. Challenges from the burial society movement To government:
revise FS legislation*
stop illegal insurance practices
curb commission on funeral policies*
curb loans of insurance licenses to undertakers*
*subject to a review process involving burial societies
To actuaries:
recognise policyholders’ expectations
29. Burial Societies in South Africa Watch this space!
30. Burial Societies in South Africa Respondent: I don’t know if it comes from whites or what. And we compete too much about who cooks better salads, how were salads in that funeral and that funeral.
Interviewer: What can be done to reduce the costs?
Respondent: We can adopt the style that we had in the olden days. If you die, we must use a cow skin to bury you. And we should not have all these foods.
31. Burial societies in South Africa No, we have not discussed this issue, because people don't discuss AIDS. Family members won't say so-and-so died of AIDS. Politicians die but they don't talk about AIDS. How many people have died of AIDS and have you heard of people mentioning AIDS? What happens to those who mention AIDS? They just say he was sick of TB or short-breath [asthma]. [AIDS sufferers] are stigmatised. People go on talking about them, saying, ‘Have you seen so-and-so has AIDS; he's lost weight and spreading the sickness, which is bad!’
32. Burial societies in South Africa Yes, yes… people are dying, people are really dying… for me, I don’t even really get shocked anymore… I can even see a person when they are about to go [die], I can see that he’s gone, he’s gone… you see…
33. Burial societies in South Africa See, we put money from the bank, nč? Then we see that money is a little bit more. Then we are able to do children. That's why, before, we didn't mention the children, we didn't bury children. Then we see, no… we've got some little money, we add some children and the parents. Ja, it goes like this.
34. Burial societies in South Africa We used to pay R117 [per member per month]. It is only last year that we paid R87. We are supposed to pay R500 for the whole year towards that funeral cover, so we realised that paying R117 meant paying more than required, so we had to rectify that mistake.
35. Burial societies in South Africa We just tell a member of joining fees and rules and accept the member. We can't check; some people would lie about their health circumstances. We are not doctors and have no money. People from insurance companies do checks.
36. Burial societies in South Africa We give members a waiting period of six months. If the person survives the six months, irrespective of when she contracted the disease we would bury her. The timing of the sickness is not our problem and at least we have punished the person for six months.
37. Burial societies in South Africa Sometimes these people know when they are about to die. We want to make sure you are not bringing to us walking coffins. Six months is fair.
38. Burial societies in South Africa In a burial club you can get the support of your brothers and sisters to support you while you are under the blanket. You know how we Africans have to covered in a blanket and are not able to perform other duties. Members of a burial club will support you, cook for you and do all these things for you. The burial club does these things for you. It takes away from you. We operate like a family because people around your area who belong to the burial club… will support and take care of all these things.
39. Burial societies in South Africa If men join…they would want to control us as women. We say no to men. We can do things for ourselves and we don’t depend on men. Here we are proud and successful, in fact it is women who help these men as they drink their money instead of contribute it to the societies.
40. Burial societies in South Africa And next week, it must balance. We just sit down… and someone must stand up and tell all of us: last month it was so much, the balance now is so much. After we've gone we collect the money, count how much we've got and we write down how much today like 15th July, how much money for July, and they write down and four people have to sign.
