Insurance Groups Called to Speed up Farm Flood Claims

February 2 - One of the hardest hit industries in the recent floods in South Africa was the agricultural industry.

The President of AgriSA, Johannes Moller, said this week that preliminary estimates showed that the floods had caused R1 billion in lost production.

In addition, it is believed that there has been damage worth R1 billion to farm infrastructure.

The Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson called on the insurance industry to process claims from farms affected by the floods as quickly as possible.

At a special two-day meeting held in Pretoria between the minister and provincial agriculture MEC's, it was decided to push the insurance industry to pay out claims speedily.

This would allow them to get on with their farming activities as soon as the waters subsided, instead of having to wait for drawn out payments.

It was also decided to ask South African banks to extend the debt repayment periods of flood-hit farmers.

The minister also met with representatives of the commercial agriculture sector and was offered assistance in the form of a technical team to advise her on a response to the recent floods.

It was announced that farmers would not be paid out cash settlements by the government.

However, the government will step in and try to complete the reconstruction of dams, roads, irrigation systems and bridges to aid the farmers as they set about building their farms again.

The government will also provide fertilizer, tools and seeds.