St Mark’s receives insurance aid
HISTORIC St Mark’s Church in District Six has received good news from its insurer Old Mutual – in time to repair damage caused by arson, and ahead of the December holidays.
Rector Father Austin Jackson reported that weeks had passed since an assessment had been done on the 150-year-old church that was not entirely gutted, but significant damage had been caused by a petrol bomb to its under-croft.
Jackson said that after coverage of the church’s concerns regarding the vulnerability of the heritage site at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s (CPUT) Cape Town campus, its insurer contacted him.
“We received a call from the very same Johan Welthagen who spoke to the paper, and he said Old Mutual would foot the bill for the repairs. This was being done in good faith, while Sasria (the South African Special Risks Insurance Association) completes its assessment,” said Jackson.
He said the Christmas Eve and New Year’s church services would now be able to take place because the repairs could be completed before Christmas.
Welthagen, who is Old Mutual’s head of claims support, said Sasria cover was designed to supplement the insurance that was offered by insurers and covered damage caused by political unrest, non-political riots and public disorder.
One of the oldest Christian church buildings in District Six, St Mark’s survived forced removals and demolitions during the apartheid era.
Student Lukhanyo Matinisi, 20, was arrested in connection with the arson attack, which took place during protests at CPUT’s Cape Town campus in September.
The fire partially damaged the church’s under-croft when criminals gained access and petrol-bombed the building.
An engineering building was also torched that same evening as protesters started small fires, but firefighters were on the scene to extinguish the blazes.
Old Mutual spokesperson Adele Kula said: “Yes, this is true. A small gesture of goodwill in line with our customer-centric focus, which we don’t want to make a big deal of in the media.”