Tag: property damage

The news that dominated the headlines during the weekend of 15 – 17 September 2023, was the storm surge incidents that swept across three coastal provinces – the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. Mainstream media and social media alike were abuzz with the news. Since then, videos depicting the storm surges have been circulating across various media platforms.

The turbulent geopolitical climate is creating uncertain economic conditions across the globe. In South Africa, several unique challenges are worsening the effects of global risk factors, including load shedding, hefty fuel hikes and ongoing inflationary increases.

Entrepreneurs invest a lot of energy into getting their businesses off the ground and finding ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, few put the same dedicated effort into finding the best insurance solution for their business.

During the month of September, many homeowners flock outdoors to enjoy the start of Spring; this may even result in a purchase of a plant or two for one’s garden. But if you are super rich, your love for the outdoors may culminate into spend of anything between R500,000 and R1 million on a single tree for your property.

Businesses in South Africa experienced major losses in July from physical damage, business interruption, and loss of revenue, looting, vandalism caused by civil commotion, protests and riots which resulted in about $3.4 billion in lost output and placed 150,000 jobs at risk.

Operating conditions in the first half of 2021 were better than we expected at the start of the year. This was evident in upward revisions to GDP growth, vaccine rollouts gathering pace and positive developments on key reforms in SA.

The latest riots and looting in South Africa have been utterly devastating for local businesses. When the dust eventually settles, the reality is that many businesses are going to have a tough time bouncing back from the destruction. Those that are able to pick up the pieces will be the ones that have business interruption insurance in place.

Employers seeking an appropriate response to the civil unrest and public looting in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of South Africa will have to consider different factual circumstances. As a result of the civil unrest and public looting in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and elsewhere, employers may face one of the three scenarios.

We strongly condemns the wanton destruction of the country’s key infrastructure, goods and property and the senseless loss of lives over the past week. We respect South Africa’s law and the Constitution, but it is time to take action. It is time for us to work together, make plans, implement those plans and ensure that our supply chains continue to operate.

With reports that more than half of companies around the world do not have effective business continuity plans in place to combat an infectious disease outbreak like COVID-19 and the virus starting to take a stronger foothold in South Africa, businesses must do more to prepare themselves for the repercussions this could have on operations.