Sasria unrest payments 'taking too long'
Businesses brought to their knees during the July riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng have grown desperate as they continue to wait for an insurance payout.
Public loss adjuster, Insurance Claims Africa, is pleading with government's insurance company Sasria to pay claimants at least a third of their insured sum, as soon as possible.
The insurance claims experts say this would help cash-strapped businesses get back on their feet, while complex and lengthy claims are still processed.
The ICA represents the largest volume of claims submitted to Sasria following the unrest.
Chairperson Mike Gaines says claimants need the cash to restart their businesses, replenish stock and repair damaged properties.
"We are concerned that they are taking too long to get meaningful payments to these claimants and these claimants are now suffering cash-flow shortages which are impacting on the poorest of the poor to the extent that you would have seen a very big increase in low-cost protein because the cold store chain has been destroyed. So we have proposed a compromise.
"We dealt with all Covid-19 claims in Africa, we know from that experience that the relief payment went a long way to keeping people employed and restaurants and hotels open and we need a similar system with Sasria.”
