I'M STILL shocked after a North West woman was arrested recently for allegedly "sacrificing" a relative to cash in on insurance money.
What brought my jaws to the ground wasn't the allegations against her; it was a question of how many of our people have done that.
The convicted infamous cop, Rosemary Ndlovu, holds the trophy for sacrificing her relatives through death to cash in on insurance money. But after the North West woman saga rose, the trophy is indeed a floating one.
The worst fear here is how many people have orchestrated the deaths of their "loved ones" to cash in on a few thousand rands. Are the lives of family members or relatives worthless in the arms of people who are supposed to take care of them and ensure their safety only to be subjected to greedy, hungry relatives who see them as bags of money walking around the house?
The question is: how many of those greedy relatives have succeeded in their evil deeds, and yet such remains unknown? And how many of them are still planning such?
All these homicide killings, be it the killing of spouses and children (familicide) or more relatives for money, can be articulated to two factors which I summed up, in my opinion, as greed for money and mental health challenges.
But the Insurance Crime Bureau chief executive officer, Garth de Klerk, had a different view on this matter.
In an interview with IOL, he said such actions are "poverty-driven", especially when it comes to women.
ALSO READ | Rosemary 2.0 appears in court
He was quoted saying: "Poverty-driven distress was so high that some people, mainly women, engaged hitmen to kill, so they could pocket the benefits paid out by insurers."
However, according to author Samuel Cameron from the UK, in his book Killing For Money and The Economy Theory of Crime, released in 2014, conversations on such crimes were given less attention by economists and law enforcers.
He goes on to name this kind of crime as "Contract Killings".
"There's a large literature on the economics of crime and punishment, yet surprisingly little attention is paid to the receipt of money for crime. 'Contract killing' is surprisingly neglected by economists and social scientists in general," he said.
Now, the most complex and tense question to ask would be: are you aware that your relatives have insured you? Do you trust the relationship you have with them? What is your worth should you die and is such justifiable?
