Municipalities urged to educate councillors on risk insurance that protects against violent strikes

2012 has seen the largest number of service delivery protests in South Africa since 2004, with over 2 million people taking to the streets in protest every year since 2008. During times of protests local government representatives are the frontmen address

It is the responsibility of municipalities to educate local government representatives of the risk insurance needed to ensure they are covered.

This is according to Nkosinathi Kone, Local Authorities: Customer Relations Manager at Lion of Africa Insurance,who says since the local government elections in May last year, councillors in various municipality districts have had their properties destroyed. Most recently a Soweto councillor, Sefolo-Mamabolo, house was under attack and damaged by angry protesters who were complaining about poor service delivery and frequent power outages.

“All municipalities in the country operate differently and are not legally required to have privately owned councillors assets covered as part of the Municipality Asset Insurance policy. . It is therefore critical for municipalities to become actively involved in informing local government representatives about whether their own privately owned assets such as houses are covered by municipalities against damage incurred by strikes, or whether the onus is upon them to seek their own personal cover,” says Kone.

He says Municipal Councillors' Assets Risk Insurance cover is a type of cover offered to mayors and councillors of local Municipality which was designed by the South African Special Risk Insurance Association (SASRIA). This cover addresses the vandalism of councillors’ and mayors’ houses whilst they are in office.

The National Treasury is currently devising a plan to source out insurance cover for municipal councillors’ to cover over 10000 councillors around the country which would require councillors to pay a fee towards a fund. The risk cover may potentially also include life cover for a councillor, for injury or damage to their property.

“Brokers also have a big role to play in advising municipalities on cover such as this for local government representatives in high risk situations with potentially volatile communities. However it still is the responsibility of the intermediaries to provide adequate advise local authorities on what and how to take insurance out for various risks that are irregular to municipal officials” concludes Kone.