Staff of Reuters 3 Minutes to Read JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) – The head of the country’s only insurer covering political violence told Reuters that claims for damage and theft from businesses harmed by civil upheaval in South Africa are likely to be between 7 billion and 10 billion rand ($481 million to $683 million). PHOTO FROM THE FILE: In Durban, South Africa, on July 14, 2021, a general view of a burning warehouse after unrest erupted following the imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma. Rogan Ward/Rogan Ward/Rogan Ward/Rogan Ward/Rogan Ward Over 70 people have been killed, thousands of businesses have been damaged, and significant infrastructure has been harmed in days of riots and looting in some of the worst civil disturbances in decades. It has broadened into an outpouring of rage about poverty and inequality, sparked by the imprisonment of ex-president Jacob Zuma last week after he failed to appear at a corruption inquiry. According to its managing director Cedric Masondo, Sasria, a state-owned insurer established after private firms stopped underwriting risks connected to political violence due to turmoil under apartheid, the company has received roughly 100 million rand in claims so far. The business, which is the only insurer to cover such risks, expects total claims of up to 10 billion rand, or 12 billion rand in the worst-case scenario, according to Masondo, making the upheaval the most significant event in terms of claim value since Sasria was founded in 1974. “In terms of financial scale, this is the worst,” he remarked. While Sasria has re-insurance cover in the high single digits and can finance claims up to 10 billion rand from its own financial sheet, Masondo claimed the company only covers consumers up to a limit of 500 million rand. As a result, smaller businesses will almost certainly have their losses fully covered, whereas larger businesses that have incurred considerable damage will almost certainly have to cover some of the costs themselves. According to the mayor of the Ethekwini municipality in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, 40,000 businesses have been affected, with damages estimated at 15 billion rand. The violence has been centered in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s home region, as well as Johannesburg and its neighboring suburbs in Gauteng province, the country’s economic and financial capital. (1 rand = 14.6309 dollars) Emma Rumney contributed reporting, while Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Toby Chopra edited the piece./n
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