Category: Industry

The South African Special Risk Insurance Association (Sasria) has to date paid out R5.8 billion in claims to businesses that suffered damages during the July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

This was on Monday revealed by the National Treasury and Sasria in a joint statement. The two said that work had been underway to address the damages incurred and assist businesses to start operating again.

In the wake of the unprecedented chain of events that saw businesses looted and razed, government unveiled various interventions to support the affected establishments.

Sasria has made important business interventions, namely capital and reinsurance restructure, and government, as the sole shareholder, has committed to stand in as the entity’s insurer of last resort. Government committed to enable Sasria to meet all its policyholder commitments.

In the statement, Sasria Managing Director, Cedric Masondo, said: “Our discussions with National Treasury are in line with the desired determination of the best medium that can inject capital, as we look at how to be future-proof ready and acknowledge the lessons learnt during the unfortunate unrest in July.”

The National Treasury has indicated that R3.9 billion will be disbursed to Sasria following the conclusion of the recently tabled Special Appropriation Bill parliamentary processes. This was intended to assist Sasria in meeting its obligations until the end of the current financial year, which ends on 31 March 2022.

The National Treasury said it was aware that additional government support would be required and was working closely with Sasria to finalise the actual financial support need.

They said the final additional support was dependent on how swiftly Sasria can finalise the total claim amounts.

“It is expected that the additional support which has been flagged in the recent special appropriation will be concretised in the 2022 Budget,” reads the statement.

They reiterated that Sasria had sufficient reserves, including through its reinsurers, to meet all valid claims. While the parliamentary processes for additional government support is being finalised, Sasria remains liquid and continues to trade as usual.

Sasria in the statement said almost 100% of claims notifications had been received and were in the process of loss adjustment. Since July, the two revealed that claims amounting to over R5.8 billion had been paid.

“All claims below R1 million to be settled and paid in full quicker, and the Agent companies are working extremely hard to make sure that these claims are paid as quickly as possible,” they said.

Sasria and Treasury said the Association was determined to settle 80% of all claims between R1 million and R30 million by the end of October 2021.

Sasria has started paying interim payments as proposed by Loss Adjusters on all big claims (above R30 million) and is determined to make sure that at least 30% of total claim value for big claims is paid in the next couple of weeks.

“We would like to assure clients that we have added resources to reduce any possible delays in the processing of claim payments. We are confident that in two weeks, we would have attended to all outstanding reports and made necessary payments,” Sasria said.

It has engaged with industry partners and reached an agreement that the damaged properties will rather be rebuilt, than do cash in lieu payments. Collaborative work with loss adjusters and the industry would be done to ensure that the buildings are rebuilt.

“Sasria continues to play a key role in the insurance industry. We urge clients to continue and maintain their policies with Sasria and would like to assure them of our determined resilience to maintain our excellent relations,” said Masondo.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Establishing strong partnerships and getting to know your community well, is sure to make a difference in combatting crime in any area. SAPS Kwazakele has built a sturdy relationship with its community and this partnership has resulted in all role-players working hand in hand to ensure the safety of their citizens and businesses.

In the last two years, criminal activities near a garage in the area was a hype for criminals robbing and hijacking commuters in that area. Due to these criminal activities the owners of the garage fostered a relationship with SAPS Kwazakele, the Community Policing Forum as well as Community in Blue with the aim of eradicating the problem. Once that partnership took off, there was a drastic decrease in crime in that area.

On 30 September at about 10:00, the garage management in partnership with Eyona Energy handed over 200 reflector jackets and 80 beanies to the Community Policing Forum to be utilised during their patrols with the Community in Blue patrollers to enhance visibility when performing their duties.

A soccer kit was also donated to a soccer club known as Carvella Stars to encourage the youth to get involved in crime prevention initiatives through sport against crime. The club coach Mr Savoy Mazwi was overwhelmed at the sponsorship and vowed to ensure to increase the membership of the club by engaging with the youth to participate and show an interest in the sport thus luring them away from crime and criminal elements.

SAPS Kwazakele Station Commander, Brigadier Lindelwa Vellem extended her appreciation to the business fraternity and reiterated that,’in order for us to reduce crime and criminal activities, we need the support and cooperation of every citizen and business in the Kwazakele area. Businesses are an integral part of society and are one of our key stakeholders in combatting crime. Enhanced co-operation between the SAPS and companies will ensure that our communities are and feel safe,’ added Brigadier Vellem.

Source: South African Police Service

The trial of seven Chinese nationals arrested for alleged human trafficking and child labour will resume in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday.

This after it was postponed, due to the ill health of a Mandarin interpreter.

The seven accused Kevin Tsao Shu-Uei, Chen Hui, Qin Li, Jiaqing Zhou, Ma Biao, Dai Junying, and Zhang Zhilian appeared in Court on Monday.

The Department of Employment and Labour said that in their last appearance on 16 August 2021 the trial was also postponed after the presiding Judge, Mhango could not attend due to other commitments.

The Chinese nationals are facing schedule six offences and are facing 160 counts of contravening of South Africa’s labour laws, trafficking in persons, contravention of Immigration Act, knowingly employing illegal foreigners, kidnapping, pointing a firearm, debt bondage, benefitting from the services of a victim of trafficking. Offences also include conduct that facilitates trafficking, illegally assisting person(s) to remain in South Africa, and failure to comply with duties of an employer.

The Chinese nationals were arrested for allegedly running an illegal enterprise called Beautiful City Pty Ltd located at Village Deep in Johannesburg.

The arrest was yielded by a joint operation by the Department of Employment and Labour’s Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES) branch in Gauteng together with the South African Police Services (SAPS), Department of Home Affairs and the Hawks Unit.

The accused have pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

To date, three former employees of the illegal enterprise have taken to the stand. The witnesses are Malawian nationals.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The Department of Water and Sanitation says it will fully support the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government in all its efforts and interventions to ensure that everyone has access to clean water in the province.

In a statement on Wednesday, the department said that it welcomes the ongoing and consistent efforts made by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, under the leadership of Premier Sihle Zikalala to alleviate water challenges still experienced in some parts of the province.

“As a department, we welcome the great strides being undertaken to ensure long-term interventions are put in place to address water security in the province,” departmental Spokesperson Sputnik Ratau said.

Premier Zikalala officially launched the province’s Water Master Plan and Borehole Intervention Programme on Tuesday.

“The launch is timely as the province’s dam levels are declining on a weekly basis. A weekly status of reservoirs report issued early this week has shown a decline from last week’s 66.5% to 66.3%,” Ratau said.

Admitting that the drop is minimal, Ratau maintained that given the extreme and unpredictable weather patterns experienced in many parts of the country because of the effects of drought, dam levels can take any turn.

“Our hydrologists are telling us that we must expect the unexpected this rainy summer season. Dams can further decline or fill up to the maximum. It is for this reason that we should not let any drop of water go to waste. Hence we say the intervention by the KwaZulu-Natal government is timely,” Ratau said.

The Provincial Water Master Plan and Borehole Intervention Programme was launched in the Harry Gwala District Municipality and aims to improve access to safe and clean running water in rural communities.

Ratau said that the plan is impressive as it outlines KwaZulu-Natal’s water-related challenges and most importantly, it has the necessary framework, which spells out the short, medium and long-term solutions that are required to address the backlogs.

Meanwhile, he said the Department of Water and Sanitation is prioritising the completion of ongoing bulk water projects while also ensuring that others are upgraded to increase their capacity.

One of the department’s successful project upgrade is the Lower Thukela Water Treatment Works, which was commissioned in September 2017.

“The water treatment works produces 34 million litres per day and is one of the biggest bulk potable water infrastructure in the province. The plant abstracts raw water from the Tugela River, which is then processed and stored at a 30 megalitres reservoir. The reservoir supplies potable water to about 28 000 households and approximately 140 000 people in iLembe District Municipality,” Ratau said.

The department has urged residents to continue using water sparingly as most of the province’s dams are minimally declining.

Source: South African Government News Agency

Gauteng’s most wanted suspect to appear in the Temba Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, 27 September 2021, for business robbery and possession of suspected stolen vehicle. This followed after an alert Detective/Constable of SAPS Temba swiftly responded to a business robbery that had just taken place in Stinkwater and subsequently arresting one of the perpetrators.

The Detective/Constable was on his lunch break when he received information on a business robbery in progress where four suspects with a firearm have robbed a hardware store. The suspects’ vehicle was described as a metallic blue, Toyota Yaris. As he was rushing to the crime scene in an unmarked police vehicle, he came across the suspects’ car and a chase ensued. Three of the suspects jumped out of the moving vehicle and fled on foot, he cornered the driver with assistance from the community.

Preliminary investigations on the scene revealed that the arrested suspect has a warrant of arrest issued for three cash-in-transit robberies that occurred in Akasia (2010), Soshanguve and Eersterust (2017), and that he was on the top five list of Gauteng’s most wasted suspects.

The suspect’s vehicle was seized and it was later discovered that it had been stolen in Garankuwa last month.

The Provincial Commissioner of Gauteng, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has commended the member’s bravery for going after business robbers on his own. “Though the Detective /Constable had called for back-up as per procedure, his instinct and quick action without any care for his own safety, has resulted in the arrest of one of our most wanted suspects,” commended Lt Gen Mawela.

The Provincial Commissioner also praised the community members that assisted the member during the arrest saying that with their support the police managed to remove a dangerous suspect from the streets of Temba, making it a safer place for its residents.

Source: South African Police Service

SAPS Mount Road detectives are on the hunt for four robbery suspects who allegedly robbed a business on Saturday evening, 25 September 2021, in Deal Party.

It is alleged that at approximately 21:00, two guards were on duty at the premises in Burman Road when one guard was patrolling the premises and her colleague was at the guard house. The security official at the guard house was confronted by two suspects who were armed with firearms. As the second guard returned after her patrols she was also confronted and tied up. While the two suspects guarded the officials, it is further alleged that a white truck entered the premises and loaded boxes (content unknown) onto the vehicle. Afterwards the suspects fled with the vehicle. The guards managed to untie themselves and activated the panic alarm.

A case of business robbery is under investigation. Anyone who can assist with information relating to the robbery is asked to contact Mount Road Crime office on 041 394 6243 or Crime Stop 08600 1011 or their nearest police station.

Source: South African Police Service