Worst-Ever Death Claims Lay Bare Pandemic’s Toll on South Africa

Mortality payouts almost doubled to a record for South Africa’s fourth-largest insurer by market value as the coronavirus ripped through the country.

Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Chief Executive Officer Hillie Meyer said on Wednesday that the company’s life insurance businesses paid out 10.7 billion rand ($746 million) in death claims in the year ending in June, compared with an average of 5.6 billion rand annually over the three years preceding the pandemic.