The role of insurance at the intersection of Covid-19 and inequality through the lens of the cases: Cafe Chameleon CC v Guardrisk Insurance Company Ltd and Ma-Afrika Hotels (Pty) Ltd v Santam Limited

Abstract Insurance has the potential to make a positive impact on the financial stability and economic wellbeing of societies. However the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a harsh light on the consequences of both the insurance industry and the state’s failure to fully realise the right of ‘everyone’ to ‘appropriate social assistance’ in terms of s 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. This was brought into sharp focus in the hospitality sector where the failure of insurers to pay business interruption policies resulted in business closures and job losses. An analysis of the business interruption court cases that followed highlights the progressive approach by the courts who applied a contextual and purposive interpretation of the insurance policies. I argue that this is in keeping with the objectives of insurance law set out in the Insurance Act 18 of 2017, which include the alignment of the insurance industry to the values of the Constitution.