Late mayor's widow battles bank over R2.25m BMW claim

Jolidee Matongo had not taken credit life cover on the vehicle

- LOYISO SIDIMBA

LATE former Johannesburg mayor Jolidee Matongo's widow is fighting Standard Bank' decision to refuse to settle the R2.25 million BMW X5 for which he owed more than R2.22m.

At the time of his death in September 2021, Matongo had not taken credit life cover on the vehicle.

Standard Bank financed the BMW X5 Drive 30DM Sport 2020 bought from Supertech Shelly Beach on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast in June 2021 for just over R2.25m.

In the fight to force the bank to pay, it has since emerged that Matongo had a straight life cover policy but not credit life insurance.

A month after Matongo died in a car accident on the Golden Highway near Lenasia, south of Joburg, his widow, Kedibone Matongo, approached Standard Bank to lodge a claim.

In April the following year, she received communication from the bank advising her that there was no credit life cover on the vehicle and that the total amount outstanding on the vehicle was just above R2.22m.

Kedibone received a R2m payout for life cover, and Standard Bank also informed her that her late husband declined or opted not to take credit life cover for the vehicle.