Chairperson

Honourable Members of Parliament

The South African Insurance Association would like to thank the Committee for the invitation to today’s meeting and for giving us the opportunity to do a presentation on this very important Bill.

Disaster management legislation is long overdue and the short-term insurance industry is very pleased and supports the proposed Bill.

The Bill provides an integrated, co-ordinated and common approach to disaster management.

We are particularly pleased to see that the Bill not only focuses on mitigating the severity of disasters, but also on preventing and reducing the risk of disasters occurring, in that it aims to introduce early warning systems for potential disasters, which will cut losses, and most importantly save lives.

Considering the losses as a result of the fires in the Western Cape and the floods in many parts of the country, the insurance industry believes that risk management of this nature is much more important than taking reactive measures.

Although the insurance industry is the business sector that is most likely to be hardest hit by any disaster occurring, this Bill is of great importance to all South Africans.

In the event of a disaster, the implementation of the Bill will result in the more effective use and co-ordination of state resources and manpower on a national, provincial and local level.

The short-term insurance industry some time ago identified the importance of preventative measures and has been active in many areas to assist authorities in this regard.

In 1999 the industry funded and conducted a national and comprehensive investigation on the state of fire services in the country. The findings and recommendations were presented to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Disaster Management for action.

The SAIA also supports the manner in which the Bill intends to draw the involvement of the Private sector. It is acknowledged that the Minister may include a representative from organised business to serve on the National Disaster Advisory Forum.

It is hoped that the Minister will exercise this discretion in such a way that organised business is assured representation.

It is strongly felt that organised business would be valuable role players across all spheres and especially with regards to risk management.

In short, the South African Insurance Association accepts the invitation extended in the Bill to form part of the National Disaster Advisory Forum to consult and co-ordinate our actions on matters relating to Disaster Management.

I thank you