South Africa’s July 2021 social unrest caused R34 billion in claims to SASRIA , a public enterprise that provides coverage for damage caused by special risks such as politically motivated malicious acts, riots, strikes, terrorism and public disorders. This required a R22 billion allocation from National Treasury for SASRIA to honour these claims and meet its solvency capital ratio.
According to SASRIA, the July 2021 unrest saw:
- 1199 retail stores and 161 liquor outlets vandalised
- 3000 stores looted
- 161 malls damaged
- 354 deaths
- 40 000 businesses affected
- R50 billion in total damages
SASRIA’s recent annual report also shows that average wages have grown slight faster than CPI since 2006/07, with the average employee receiving an annual package of almost R1.1 million. This is lower than the PIC, comparable to SARB, but much higher than National Treasury.
Footnote
Note that the wage calculation excludes directors.
