Roxanne Henderson and Khuleko Siwele, Bloomberg News
Debris inside a supermarket following rioting in the Soweto district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 15.
, Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- As calm begins to return to South Africa following days of violent riots that caused billions of rand in damage, questions are being asked about who will foot the bill.
While some claims will be assessed by heavyweight insurers such as Old Mutual Group Ltd. and Santam Ltd., the bulk of the burden will fall to one company little known outside the country: Sasria Insurance Ltd.
Sasria, a state-owned firm with 8.5 billion rand ($591 million) in assets under management, was founded shortly after the Soweto uprising of 1976, when at least 176 people died in demonstrations led by school children against the apartheid government. The frequency and scale of political protests that followed prompted private insurers to stop offering cover to vulnerable businesses, and Sasria was crated to fill the void.