Online Reporter
Peter Matika
IMAGINE paying a funeral parlour to give your loved one a dignified send-off, only to discover that the deceased’s shoes have been stolen, the body was barely washed and the hearse that carried your family home was used to transport illegal immigrants.
That is the horror story one grieving family says they endured at the hands of Kingdom Blue Funeral Services, a fast-growing regional funeral home now battling yet another scandal, dripping with shame and disbelief.
The company, which has previously faced allegations of fraud and body mix-ups, stands accused of theft, negligence and gross disrespect for the dead after a family from Bulawayo claimed that their late relative’s US$100 shoes were stolen from his corpse at the parlour’s Johannesburg branch.
The victim’s brother, Beven Tshuma, took to Facebook in fury, accusing the company of exploiting their grief and desecrating the body of his brother.
“Kingdom Blue is the biggest funeral scammer ever,” he fumed. “Three months ago when my brother passed away in Upington, we paid them R32 900 cash to facilitate his funeral from South
Africa to Bulawayo. It turned out to be the worst nightmare of our lives.”
Tshuma said the ordeal began the moment the parlour took custody of his brother’s body.
“His body wasn’t properly washed, just splashed with water. When I offered to wash him myself, they refused and said ‘sesimjovile’, meaning he had been injected and couldn’t be touched,” he said.
Then came the biggest heartbreak.
“When the body arrived in Bulawayo, I asked for the coffin to be fully opened, only to discover my brother’s shoes were missing. Those shoes had been left with the parlour in Johannesburg for dressing. I was furious.”
A google image search showed that the Chun Sen Shoes cost about US$115 in Zimbabwe.
Tshuma said after he complained bitterly, the parlour’s staff scrambled to cover up the theft.
“They later brought a cheap pair bought from a street stall in Bulawayo and claimed it was a mistake. But I don’t believe that for a second. If I hadn’t opened the coffin, they would never have
“found” the shoes. I think they steal from corpses often because families rarely check.”
Tshuma also accused Kingdom Blue of misusing their funeral vehicle for illegal cross-border dealings.
“On our way back to South Africa, the driver stopped to pick up border jumpers to fill the empty seats. It was done right in front of us, a mourning family still in pain,” he alleged.
Tshuma said the journey was marred by corruption and humiliation.
“Even though everyone had valid passports, we were made to pay bribes at roadblocks and at the border. Other funeral companies were cleared and left us behind. It was a nightmare I’ll never forget,” he said.
He described the experience as a betrayal of trust and dignity.
“That business is built on people’s misery. The people who work there act like Satanists,” he said bitterly.
When contacted, Kingdom Blue’s Marketing Director in Zimbabwe, Mbongiseni Ncube, brushed off the family’s anguish and accused Tshuma of being petty.
“We are aware of the issue and have since sorted it out. Now that he’s writing whatever he wants on Facebook, what does he expect us to do?” asked Ncube casually.
This latest scandal adds to the funeral company’s growing list of shameful episodes.
Last year, The Devi Show, a popular South African investigative programme, exposed Kingdom Blue for failing to honour cash payouts and policies, labelling its operations “a scam disguised as a service.”
In 2023, the firm was at the centre of another storm after two Bulawayo families buried the wrong bodies following a mix-up at its Kelvin branch. Furious relatives locked the funeral home’s gates in protest, bringing operations to a halt.
Now, with fresh accusations of stealing from the dead, the company’s image lies in tatters.
As for Beven Tshuma and his family, no apology or replacement can erase the trauma of watching their brother’s dignity stripped both in life and in death.
“Those shoes were stolen, no doubt about it,” Tshuma said. “They only returned them after the burial, long after it no longer mattered. The damage was already done.”
For a company entrusted with honouring the dead, Kingdom Blue stands accused of doing the exact opposite, turning grief into gain and dignity into disgrace.
