SAIA Actively Combats Crime

May 14 - A check worth R1.7 million was handed over to the Business Against Crime South Africa organization by the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) this week.

The funds were approved by the SAIA Board, making it the eighth year in a row that the group is assisting the fight against crime in South Africa.

"Our industry has, since 2002, donated over R10 million towards BACSA's crime combating activities and we remain committed to contributing towards improving the crime situation in our country to ensure a sustainable and successful future for all," said the Chairperson of the SAIA Board, Ronnie Napier.

An interesting, and very encouraging, fact to note was that motor vehicle crime in South Africa has dropped by 50% since 2002, according to SAIA.

However, Napier warned that "while incidences of vehicle theft had greatly reduced over the years, there was no room for complacency concerning crime."

Until now, the South African Insurance Association has only been taking contributions from the car insurance industry in a bid to help fight crime.

"Motor insurance remained the largest class of business for the industry and the high cost of claims related to the issue of road safety was becoming increasingly problematic for many members within the short term insurance industry," said Napier. "As about 70% of insurance claims were road accident related, the Association had adopted a strategy to address the causes of claims, while also maintaining a focus on crime combating."

However, since numbers are significantly down, the group will, for the first time, be taking contributions from all insurance sectors to keep crime down.