{"id":864095,"date":"2026-06-20T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=864095"},"modified":"2026-06-19T15:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T13:26:34","slug":"warning-to-homeowners-in-three-semigration-hotspots-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/property\/864095\/warning-to-homeowners-in-three-semigration-hotspots-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning to homeowners in three semigration hotspots in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Homeowners and businesses in some of South Africa\u2019s top semigration hotspots are being warned that they could face significant financial losses if disaster strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the feedback from Liza Nolte, New Business Development Manager at AfriGIS, who said that many properties may be substantially under-insured because insurers rely on outdated valuation data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Nolte, areas such as George, Mossel Bay and the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast are particularly exposed due to rapid semigration and rising rebuilding costs that have outpaced official municipal valuations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf a major storm hits George, Mossel Bay, or the KZN North Coast, thousands of home and business owners are going to discover they are under-insured by up to 33% and will have to foot a massive shortfall out of pocket,\u201d Nolte warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that many insurers continue to use municipal valuation rolls as a key input when assessing property risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is despite those records being designed primarily for tax purposes rather than determining how much it would cost to rebuild a property after a total loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen property data is treated as a fixed administrative record, it ignores the reality that risk is a living variable moving in tandem with the market and the surrounding environment,\u201d Nolte said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Municipal valuation rolls are generally updated only every four to five years and, in some cases, even less frequently. During that time, construction costs, local property markets and environmental risks can change dramatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMunicipal valuation rolls exist to underpin rates and taxes, not to determine the insurance replacement cost of a commercial or residential building,\u201d Nolte said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She noted that relying on these historical figures can leave insurers and policyholders with an inaccurate understanding of a property\u2019s true replacement value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is especially acute in semigration hotspots, where demand for housing has surged, and building costs have risen rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ensure your insurance is accurate<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Liza Nolte, New Business Development Manager at AfriGIS.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cA municipal valuation roll tells us what a property was worth at a specific point in time under precise legislative assumptions,\u201d Nolte explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt cannot track how the market has moved since that roll was compiled, nor can it reflect how the localised risk environment has shifted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, properties in high-growth regions may be insured for significantly less than what it would cost to rebuild them today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolte said AfriGIS regularly encounters cases where buildings are \u201cmaterially under-insured\u2014often by a third or more \u2014 simply because the underwriting data is several years out of date.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the event of a major claim, this leaves the policyholder with a devastating shortfall and exposes the insurer to significant operational and reputational friction,\u201d Nolte said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue is compounded by rising construction costs. Statistics South Africa\u2019s latest figures for April show that the Construction Input Price Index increased by 4.5%, compared with annual consumer inflation of 4%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While both measures have risen, construction costs have consistently outpaced broader inflation, widening the gap between historic valuations and actual rebuilding expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolte also argued that accurately assessing insurance risk requires more than simply knowing a property\u2019s value. Environmental and infrastructure factors can significantly alter a building\u2019s exposure to damage over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA property is defined by its context,\u201d she said. \u201cIts true risk profile is shaped by the physical geography around it \u2013 the slope of the land, proximity to water bodies, the condition of local municipal infrastructure, and localised micro-climates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, upstream developments may change stormwater runoff patterns, while ageing drainage systems or nearby utilities can increase local risks that are not reflected in administrative records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolte stressed that homeowners in rapidly growing coastal areas should ensure their insurance cover reflects current rebuilding costs rather than relying on historic property valuations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Homeowners and businesses in some of South Africa\u2019s top semigration hotspots are being warned that they could face significant financial losses if disaster strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":864104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12755],"tags":[25623,22013,24417,25622,853],"class_list":["post-864095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property","tag-afrigis","tag-george","tag-mossel-bay","tag-north-coast","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":864106,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864095\/revisions\/864106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}