Life Insurers Pay Out Billions as South Africa Deaths Spike

  • Country is battling lengthy third wave; fourth one expected
  • Government has opened vaccination program to everyone over 18

Fresh burials in Westbury Park Cemetery in Johannesburg.

Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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South African life insurers settled claims worth 47.6 billion rand ($3.3 billion) in the year through March after the deaths of more than one million policyholders.

The death toll represents an increase of 309,733 from the same period a year earlier, the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa said in a statement on Tuesday. The statistics reflect claims from various types of life cover and funeral policies.