A spike in the severity and number of claims due to protest action has hit the state-owned SA Special Risk Insurance Association’s (Sasria’s) bottom line, leaving it unable to pay dividends to the government for the first time since 2009.
This is according to its MD, Cedric Masondo.
The short-term insurance company, which provides special risk cover for public disorder, strikes, riots and terrorism, recorded its first pretax loss, R73m, for the year to end-March, down from the previous year’s R1.3bn profit.
The losses were predominantly driven by a 138% increase in net insurance claims, which reached R1.58bn.
The number of claims rose 50% from the previous year to 5,443, the highest in the company’s 40-year history.