Chaos in Nandi drive near Newlands east, in Durban as hundreds of motorists take up a stretch about a kilometre with their cars as they are busy looting a game stores warehouse, Picture: Doctor Ngcobo, African News Agency, ANA.
THE state-run South Africa Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) has urged clients affected by last year's civil unrest, and who have outstanding information or paperwork, to submit their claims so they can be finalised, as there remains about R7 billion of outstanding cases.
According to Sasria, out of the 21 000 claims lodged, there are a few outstanding, hence the call to clients to submit claims for finalisation.
“Currently, there are 6 800 outstanding claims, totalling R7bn. Some of these are complex as clients are still rebuilding, and in some cases they need to put the exact amounts of claims,” Sasria said.
Sasria is the only non-life insurer that provides cover for damage to property caused by special risks such as politically motivated malicious acts, riots, strikes, terrorism and public disorders.
This month marks a year since South Africa was gripped by civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, where stores and other businesses were looted and vandalised. The civil unrest left almost two million people jobless, and is believed to have cost the country more than R50bn in total.
Sasria said it had dealt with an unprecedented number of claims, most of which had been assessed and settled.
“Sasria has paid over R24bn, (which) means that 80 percent of all lodged claims have been paid out,” it said.
In a statement, Sasria chief executive Mpumi Tyikwe said the past year had been tough and challenging and he called on Sasria to think differently and come up with solutions geared towards smoothly assisting its stakeholders and clients.
“We all know the damage the unrest did to our economy and infrastructure. Much as this is etched in our history, we need to reflect, plan better, and vow never to see such a repeat.
“We do recognise the right of people to protest, but we call on them to do so responsibly. We are encouraged to see that law enforcement agencies are working together as we strive to never find ourselves in this situation again.
“In the insurance industry, we note the information given by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster on the latest arrests. We will continue to work closely with all stakeholders,” said Tyikwe.
He said Sasria was currently in a stable financial position, with enough capital required by the regulator.
“Based on this, Sasria can focus on risk planning. This proves the business to be agile and able to handle any event that can be similar to the unfortunate 2021 July unrest,” he said.
Tyikwe said it was unfortunate that the Treasury had to inject R22bn to assist with settling claims, as this was money that could have been better used towards other urgent service delivery needs.
BUSINESS REPORT