After a tip-off police arrested a 35-year-old woman and a 42-year-old funeral parlour owner as they tried to pick up a body for burial.

The pair are accused of creating a fake woman called "Aphiwe Ntombela," insuring her via three different companies and ultimately declaring her dead.

Hoping to claim to claim a usd 11,000 life insurance, the unnamed 35-year-old managed to secure a birth certificate, insurance and even pay the premiums on time for the fake Aphiwe.

But when it came to killing off a person who did not exist the suspect ran into problems.

The 35-year-old approached the funeral parlour owner near Durban and according to her police statement, asked him "to 'borrow' her a female body from his mortuary."

A corpse was duly supplied and taken from the funeral parlour to a doctor for certification of death and the claims were then lodged.