OUTsurance Insurance chief executive Danie Matthee (pictured) has been appointed chairperson of the South African Insurance Association (SAIA), with SCOR SE Africa CEO Mohamed Motala taking over as deputy chairperson.
The appointments were made at a SAIA board meeting on 17 September 2026, less than five weeks after the association’s annual general meeting on 13 August.
Matthee succeeds Thusang Mahlangu, the chief executive of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty South Africa. Both Matthee and Motala were among the 18 directors elected to the board at the AGM.
The new board brings together senior representatives from across the non-life insurance market, including Old Mutual Insure, Discovery Insure, Bryte Insurance Company, Guardrisk, Hollard, Santam, OUTsurance, Lloyd’s Underwriters, Credit Guarantee Insurance Corporation of Africa, Infiniti Insurance, Lombard Insurance, Nedgroup Insurance, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty South Africa, Swiss Re Africa, SCOR, Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa, ESCAP, and SASRIA.
SAIA represents South Africa’s non-life insurance industry and has 58 members, including primary insurers and reinsurers. Its members are bound by the SAIA Code of Conduct, while the association represents the sector to stakeholders and seeks to strengthen its contribution to the South African economy and society.
Matthee takes the chair
Matthee has been part of SAIA’s leadership for several years and was previously deputy chairperson.
He joined OUTsurance in 2002 and has held several senior positions, including CEO of OUTsurance and OUTsurance Life, as well as CEO of Youi Insurance in Australia. His SAIA involvement has included board and transformation work.
Accepting the chairperson role, Matthee said: “I am honoured by the confidence the SAIA board has placed in me. Insurance matters most when things go wrong, and our responsibility is to remain relevant, affordable, and trusted.”
He said he would work with Motala, the board, management, and industry partners to build a sustainable and innovative industry that serves South Africans well.
Motala brings reinsurance experience
Motala joined SCOR in 2008 as its first employee in South Africa, having previously held positions at Credit Guarantee, Swiss Re Africa, and Absa Insurance Company. He helped to establish SCOR’s South African subsidiary in 2009 and spent 16 years leading its non-life business before being appointed CEO in 2024. He now oversees SCOR’s business across 25 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
He holds a BCom from the University of the Witwatersrand and an MBA from the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
His interests extend beyond traditional reinsurance. Motala has been involved in SCOR initiatives covering digitisation, telematics, public-private partnerships, and new insurance products, including work on insurance for nature restoration. His SAIA profile identifies closing the protection gap as a particular focus.
Mahlangu remains on the board
Mahlangu steps down as chairperson but remains a director following the August AGM.
In his final chairperson’s report, he pointed to economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, technological change, and rising climate-related risks as some of the forces changing the operating environment for non-life insurers. The report also describes the challenge of responding to those risks while maintaining fair outcomes and access to insurance.
SAIA thanked Mahlangu for his leadership and contribution during his time as chairperson.
“During his tenure, Mr Mahlangu provided valuable leadership to the SAIA board and supported the association in advancing its mandate to represent and advance the interests of the non-life insurance industry.”
Climate, infrastructure, and cyber risk
The Annual Review, titled A New Risk Reality – Insurance in a Changed World, describes an industry facing risks that are increasingly interconnected and harder to assess using historical experience alone.
The report points to more frequent and severe climate-related events, infrastructure weaknesses, geopolitical instability, supply-chain disruption and cyber threats. Inflation and currency volatility are adding to claims costs, while trade disruption can increase replacement costs.
Technology presents another set of opportunities and risks. SAIA points to AI and data analytics as tools for underwriting, claims processing, and fraud detection, while noting concerns around data protection, cybersecurity, bias and over-reliance on automated systems. Its Insurance Data System supports fraud prevention, underwriting, and claims validation, with Version 3 reducing the data rejection threshold from 7% to 2%.
SAIA is also working on municipal infrastructure insurance, with SAIA, Cenfri, and other stakeholders finalising a guideline for municipalities. Meanwhile, the Annual Review points to a persistent protection gap among low- and middle-income households and small businesses, with usage-based, parametric, and embedded insurance identified as ways to broaden access.
SAIA CEO Viviene Pearson is due to retire at the end of December after a decade at the association. Her final CEO report, included in SAIA’s annual review, describes a risk environment that has shifted beyond the cyclical volatility insurers have traditionally managed. Pearson points to infrastructure resilience, disaster preparedness and regulatory certainty as areas requiring continued co-operation between the industry, government, regulators, and other stakeholders.
“During my tenure, we have strived to position non-life insurance not only as a means of risk transfer but also as an essential partner in addressing systemic challenges and promoting sustainable economic growth.”
