![\"de](\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n
CAPE ARGUS<\/p>\n
Farm workers walk along the N1 after two farms on either side of the highway was set alight. File photo by Henk Kruger\/Cape Argus<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cape Town – Hundreds of South African farmers have rushed to secure insurance against violent protests after the destruction of vineyards, storerooms and machinery by striking farmworkers here which left them carrying a bill believed to be more than R100 million.<\/p>\n
Many of the farmers targeted during the strikes were fully insured for damage such as hail or fires that occurred naturally, but will have to dig deep into their pockets to pay for the damage that resulted from the unrest \u2013 because they hadn\u2019t taken out the extra insurance needed to protect them from unrest. The farmworkers went on strike early last month, setting fire to farmers\u2019 properties and crops, with grape and fruit farms in De Doorns and Ceres worst affected. The strike has been suspended until January 9.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Santam and Mutual & Federal insurance companies have reported being inundated with calls from farmers asking for unrest insurance through Sasria, the Special Risk Insurance Association, to be added to their policies.<\/p>\n
Santam insurance\u2019s head of agricultural cover, Schalk Schultz, said hundreds of farmers from across South Africa, but especially in the Western Cape, had approached the company in the past month to get the cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a dramatic increase in farmers obtaining unrest cover,\u201d he said, adding that the majority of farmers had not previously sought this option.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mutual & Federal insurance\u2019s agricultural manager Andries Wiese said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting an incredible number of calls. Fifty percent of our calls come from farmers saying they slipped up and need to make it right by getting Sasria unrest insurance. The violent strikes were a wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wiese met farmers in the Ceres area two weeks ago to advise them.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re telling them not to get caught with their pants down again,\u201d he said. Wiese explained that Sasria was a cheap product. For example, to ensure assets worth R350 000 cost just R45 a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe farmers would be stupid not to take it out.\u201d Schultz agreed: \u201cIt costs R144 per year to insure assets worth R1m. In future, Santam intends including Sasria cover automatically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiese said the reason most farmers had in the past failed to obtain Sasria cover was because they believed there was no chance their properties would be destroyed during unrest. \u201cWho has ever heard of people who burn vineyards down? It\u2019s something new. I\u2019ve been in the industry for 22 years and it\u2019s the first time I have heard of people setting a vineyard alight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chances of a veld fire is one thing. But the farmers reckoned the chances of a fire as a result of a protest was none. Now the farmers are sitting with damage that\u2019s not covered and they have to cover it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some farmers had, however, insured their vehicles against unrest damage, because they often travelled to cities which they considered potentially dangerous, Wiese added.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, farmers say they are battling to come to terms with their losses. The biggest loser during the strike, Agri Du Toit, which is based in Ceres, incurred damages estimated at R30m when striking workers burnt or damaged their buildings, tractors, large containers, crates, irrigation systems and orchards.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s head, Pieter du Toit, said although Agri Du Toit had Sasria unrest insurance, they remained uncovered for causal damage.<\/p>\n
Agri Du Toit employs 8 000 workers and owns 10 farms in the Western Cape. Du Toit said they were grateful they would be reimbursed for the direct physical damage via Sasria, but that the company was compiling the quantam of causal damage it suffered, with a view to taking legal action against those who organised the violent protests. The causal damage included nectarines that had to be thrown away, as well as cherries that were picked too late, fruit that didn\u2019t receive irrigation and orchards that weren\u2019t pruned in time.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
De Doorns farmer Gerhard de Kock had no Sasria cover and said he expected losses of R6m over the next five years following the strikes, which saw workers burn 6ha on his property about a month ago. Ten hectares of his neighbour\u2019s vineyards were also burnt, and his neighbourhood also did not have Sasria cover.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost farmers are in the same situation as us,\u201d De Kock said.<\/p>\n
Du Toit and De Kock are also forking out a fortune on private security, contracted to prevent more damage. Du Toit said he had already spent a few million rand on security, which was scaled down this week. De Kock said he was also spending \u201clots of money\u201d on private security, and planned to employ them until March.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both farmers reported that all their workers were back at work and that productivity had been excellent over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n
henriette.geldenhuys@inl.co.za<\/p>\n
Weekend Argus<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
View the original here:
\nRush to secure unrest insurance<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CAPE ARGUS Farm workers walk along the N1 after two farms on either side of the highway was set alight. File photo by Henk Kruger\/Cape Argus \u00a0 \u00a0 Cape Town – Hundreds of South African farmers have rushed to secure insurance against violent protests after the destruction of vineyards, storerooms and machinery by striking farmworkers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n
Rush to secure unrest insurance - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Rush to secure unrest insurance - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"CAPE ARGUS Farm workers walk along the N1 after two farms on either side of the highway was set alight. File photo by Henk Kruger\/Cape Argus \u00a0 \u00a0 Cape Town – Hundreds of South African farmers have rushed to secure insurance against violent protests after the destruction of vineyards, storerooms and machinery by striking farmworkers […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Rush to secure unrest insurance\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-09T08:40:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":843,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.iol.co.za\\\/polopoly_fs\\\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\\\/image\\\/2876314668.jpg_gen\\\/derivatives\\\/box_300\\\/2876314668.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rush to secure unrest insurance - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.iol.co.za\\\/polopoly_fs\\\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\\\/image\\\/2876314668.jpg_gen\\\/derivatives\\\/box_300\\\/2876314668.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-12-09T08:40:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/12\\\/09\\\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.iol.co.za\\\/polopoly_fs\\\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\\\/image\\\/2876314668.jpg_gen\\\/derivatives\\\/box_300\\\/2876314668.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.iol.co.za\\\/polopoly_fs\\\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\\\/image\\\/2876314668.jpg_gen\\\/derivatives\\\/box_300\\\/2876314668.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2012\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rush to secure unrest insurance - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Rush to secure unrest insurance - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"CAPE ARGUS Farm workers walk along the N1 after two farms on either side of the highway was set alight. File photo by Henk Kruger\/Cape Argus \u00a0 \u00a0 Cape Town – Hundreds of South African farmers have rushed to secure insurance against violent protests after the destruction of vineyards, storerooms and machinery by striking farmworkers […]","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Rush to secure unrest insurance","datePublished":"2012-12-09T08:40:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/"},"wordCount":843,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/","name":"Rush to secure unrest insurance - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg","datePublished":"2012-12-09T08:40:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/12\/09\/rush-to-secure-unrest-insurance\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/polopoly_fs\/de-doorns-1.1418221!\/image\/2876314668.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/box_300\/2876314668.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}