Online registration portal for businesses affected in July looting

Small and medium businesses that suffered damage and losses during July’s unrest are urged to register on an online portal launched this week by National Treasury.

The registration portal will provide a single governmental entry point for businesses to indicate the extent of losses they have suffered, and to access available facilities.

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‘A range of relief measures are being implemented by national and provincial government to support affected businesses.

‘This portal will collect data from affected businesses to better co-ordinate these relief measures, as well as to inform future interventions,’ the department said in a statement.

Treasury said data collected through the portal will be kept secure, and will only be used to improve the delivery of support measures being administered.

Business owners who experience problems accessing the portal are encouraged to use the toll-free call centre which is operational between 8am and 5pm on weekdays (closed on public holidays).

Those affected can visit https://www.relief4sa.co.za to register or call 080 006 00850 for assistance. Both platforms will be open until 30 September.

Last week, Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations (SCOA) said claims from businesses affected by unrest range between R20-billion and R25-billion.

The SCOA heard during a sitting last week that the South African Special Risks Insurance Association (Sasria) will need a further R3.9-billion to strengthen its balance sheet following the civil unrest.

Sasria’s managing director Cedrick Masondo told the committee that riots affected the association’s net investment income in assets that were invested in bonds, money markets, in South African Reserve Bank accounts, and it is now forced to liquidate R10-billion to settle insurance claims to businesses affected by recent riots.

In KZN, 57% of the unrest damage was in eThekwini and 17% in Pietermaritzburg.

This was revealed by KZN MEC for Economic Development Ravi Pillay during a virtual dialogue hosted by Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN), Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) and the Dube TradePort last month.

He said the balance of the damage suffered was spread over a number of smaller towns including Hlabisa, Nongoma and Greytown among others, and emphasised the critical need for uninsured businesses to also receive support.