A teacher in Giyani, Limpopo Province, has not been paid because the department of home affairs has certified her as deceased.

According to a print-out from home affairs, which is in Mirror’s possession, Emilly Mavunda, a teacher at Vurhonga Primary School in Giyani, died on July 12 this year in Germiston, of natural causes.

Mavunda, who is devastated about the news, says her ordeal started in September this year, when she received more money than usual. She said she thought that the much-talked-about increases in teachers’ salaries had been effected, but to her surprise that was not the case.

“When I asked my colleagues if we had been given a salary raise by the government, they said no. I later went to the bank and was told that some of my policy debit orders had not gone through. This surprised me as I have not cancelled any of my policies.

“When I went to the Old Mutual Group Scheme to find out why no deductions were made, they said the policies had been paid up. I did not understand what that meant, but was told that it meant that the owner of the policy had passed away,” she said. Mavunda said she was very shocked to learn that she had died.

‘Just imagine being told that someone has cashed in on your insurance with proof that you have died; it is very traumatic,” she said. She said after they promised to investigate, they later said that her beneficiary had been paid and was the one who had claimed the money. She says she later opened a case with the police in Giyani.

She that the incident happened in Germiston, but the money was withdrawn from an Absa account in Benoni. “Police have talked with the owner of the account and he claims not to have an Absa account,” she says.

She says the whole thing has turned her life into a nightmare. “I am a married person and a Christian. My husband does not have an Absa account and has never been to Germiston, as we are always together. If I did not trust my hus-band, it would have destroyed my marriage,” she says.

The spokesperson for the department of education, Ndo Mangala, said the issue would be investigated and corrected.

Home Affairs spokesperson Sam Moremi said he was not aware of the incident and would investigate.