Background

• The creation of a vehicle that can support Fire Services was conceptualised by the short-term insurance sector in response to increasing concerns around the state of fire services in South Africa.
• The declining capacity of fire services have a direct impact on our communities and local business.
• For insurers this translates into increases in larger claims, which threatens fire insurance viability and the delays in putting out fires impacts our communities through losses incurred through the fires.
• In 2023, Old Mutual Insure and Santam decided to set up an independent entity, named Supporting Fire Services South Africa (SFS-SA), that support Fire Services in order to reduce risks and losses for communities. It will have the benefit of also creating shared value for business.

The Challenge

The concerns were triggered by:

• Declining urban capacity & limited capacity in rural (some) areas.
• Water insecurity linked to drought conditions adversely impacting fire protection.
• Sub-optimal fire hydrants (some areas) due to inadequate infrastructure maintenance.
• Location of residential areas in wildland urban interface contributing to fire risks & losses.
• Lack of equipment & weak maintenance of appliances (vehicles & specialized equipment).
• Absence of a fit-for-purpose national funding model hindering efficient fire service provision.
• Climate change and rainfall variability are impacting prevalence of fires and altering fire regimes

SFS-SA’s Aim 

• SFS-SA is not set up to fight fires.
• It aims to proactively reduce fire-related risks and losses across South Africa, to the benefit of communities and landscapes, becoming a catalyst for enhancing South Africa’s fire-fighting capacity. Find out more about SFS-SA’s:
• Objectives
• beneficiaries and
• Our impact journey (Theory of Change)