He kept a ledger with each child’s name, their mother’s name, a home address and contact number.
Durban – Sifiso Justice Mtshali, the man whose lifeless body was dragged through the offices of Old Mutual in a viral video, fathered a total of 38 children in his lifetime.
Yes, you read right. THIRTY-EIGHT. In fact, Mtshali kept a black ledger with each child’s name, their mother’s name, a home address and contact number.
Mtshali’s family spoke to The Mercury from their modest home in Madundube just outside Stanger on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, where they said their uncle lived a very dramatic life that the drama surrounding his death came as no surprise to them.
Mtshali’s niece, Thandaza Mtshali, said her uncle kept record of each of this children.
“He kept this black book with everyone’s names and contact details,” she said.
On Tuesday, videos of Mtshali’s body being dragged in a body bag, was shared far and wide on various social media platforms.
According to Thandaza, she and her aunt Ntombenhle Mhlongo, decided to take Mtshali’s body to the Old Mutual offices in Stanger after the insurance company had not paid out her uncle’s monies within the stipulated period.
“They sent us a message telling us that their claim had been referred for additional assessment. Even when we called the head office, we were told the same thing. Up until today, no one has told us what the outcome of the assessment revealed,” she said.
Thandaza said they fetched Mtshali’s body from the mortuary and took it to the offices.
“When we got there, the monies were still not in our account. After a while, they told us the monies were in. We left my uncle’s body at the office and went to check at the bank if we could withdrew the cash. Once we did that, we returned to the office and removed his body,” she said.
Mtshali has since been buried in the family yard in Madundube. His family said only a handful of his children came to his funeral.
“Others didn’t bother,” they said.
Meanwhile, Old Mutual has since apologised to the family.
The Mercury
