CANSA and Old Mutual are helping South Africans prepare for the financial shock of severe illness while directing campaign support towards cancer care programmes across communities.
A new partnership between CANSA and Old Mutual Personal Finance is placing financial resilience alongside healthcare in conversations about cancer and other severe illnesses.
The collaboration aims to help South Africans understand how a serious diagnosis can affect household income, savings, employment and family responsibilities long after the immediate medical costs have been considered.
The initiative also has a direct social impact component. Old Mutual Personal Finance will donate R100 to CANSA for every qualifying new Severe Illness policy taken up during the campaign period, up to a maximum contribution of R100 000.
The funding will support CANSA’s cancer care and support programmes, linking financial awareness with practical assistance for people and families already affected by cancer.
At the centre of the partnership is a simple reality: a diagnosis can affect far more than someone’s physical health.
Rent or bond repayments continue. Families still need food. Children still need transport and education. People may need additional care, travel more frequently for treatment or spend extended periods away from work.
For households with limited savings, the financial effects can quickly become another layer of pressure during an already difficult period.
That is why CANSA and Old Mutual are encouraging people to consider financial preparedness before severe illness becomes an immediate crisis.
Old Mutual says it paid R827 million in Severe Illness benefits during 2025, while 68% of its Severe Illness claims related to cancer, coronary artery bypass grafts, heart attacks and strokes.
The scale of those claims highlights how frequently serious health events can intersect with financial wellbeing.
Phumza Somhlaba, Marketing Manager at Old Mutual Personal Finance, said preparation should not be confused with fear.
“Financial planning isn’t about living in fear of what might happen. It’s about understanding how the life you’ve built could be affected if something unexpected happened, and knowing what you already have in place to help protect it,” Somhlaba said.
The partnership is also challenging the assumption that medical aid alone necessarily protects a household from the financial consequences of severe illness.
Medical aid may contribute towards eligible healthcare expenses, but other costs can emerge around treatment and recovery.
These can include transport, additional caregiving, reduced income, household support and the ordinary financial commitments that continue regardless of whether someone is able to work.
“Medical aid plays an important role in helping with healthcare costs, but that shouldn’t be the end of the financial conversation,” Somhlaba said.
“Ask yourself what would happen to the rest of your financial life during recovery, your everyday commitments, your savings, your responsibilities and the people who depend on you.”
The need for greater awareness is significant.
According to the 2025 Association for Savings and Investment South Africa Insurance Gap Study cited in the campaign, more than 85% of South African earners have no severe illness cover.
That gap raises broader questions around household financial resilience, particularly in communities where families may already be managing high living costs, debt and limited emergency savings.
From a social impact perspective, the conversation therefore extends beyond insurance products.
It is about whether households understand the financial risks associated with serious illness and whether they have access to information that can help them prepare.
The partnership encourages people to consider what expenses would continue during illness, what costs may fall outside medical aid, how long savings could sustain a household and which family members would be financially affected.
Those questions can help expose potential vulnerabilities before a crisis occurs.
For CANSA, the collaboration also demonstrates how corporate partnerships can support both prevention-oriented education and frontline social programmes.
CANSA provides care and support to people affected by cancer, while Old Mutual brings financial planning expertise into a conversation that is often dominated by medical treatment alone.
That combination creates a shared-value model in which public awareness, financial education and funding for cancer support can reinforce one another.
Old Mutual is also sponsoring the CANSA High Tea in Pretoria, which forms part of CANSA’s broader efforts to raise awareness and funding for women’s health and cancer support programmes.
The partnership reflects a wider shift in how severe illness can be addressed.
Medical treatment remains essential, but the ability to recover can also be influenced by financial stability, employment, family support and access to practical assistance.
For families already living close to the financial edge, even a temporary interruption in income can create longer-term consequences.
Greater financial preparedness cannot eliminate the impact of a serious diagnosis, but it can give households more options when circumstances change unexpectedly.
Somhlaba said people do not need to understand every financial product before starting that conversation.
“You don’t need to have all the answers before speaking to a financial adviser. Start with your life, your responsibilities and the questions you’re unsure about,” she said.
For CANSA and Old Mutual, the broader message is that financial wellbeing should form part of the way South Africans think about health resilience.
By combining awareness, financial education and funding for cancer support, the partnership is attempting to move preparedness upstream — before families are forced to make difficult financial decisions during a health crisis.
The social value will ultimately lie in whether more people understand their financial vulnerabilities earlier, while additional resources reach the programmes supporting those already navigating cancer.
