A 6.5 billion rand ($361 million) lawsuit has been lodged in a South African court by a Japanese insurance company for a claim arising from flood damages suffered in 2022 by Toyota Motors Corp.’s plant near Durban.
The claim against Transnet SOC Ltd., the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport and eThekwini Municipality has been brought in the high court in Durban by Toyota South Africa Motors’ insurer, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, Business Day reported.
The claim alleges that the floods, which closed the Prospecton plant for four months, cost the company about 4.5 billion rand in plant repairs and rehabilitation and more than 2 billion rand in business interruption, the newspaper reported. The suit, which claims interest on the sum, alleges that by failing to maintain waterways and drainage systems that carried the floodwater, the three defendants shared responsibility for the damage.
Toyota South Africa said in a statement that it was not facilitating or financing the proceedings and won’t benefit from the action.
“Upon learning of the impending recovery litigation, TSAM undertook, with the consent of Tokio Marine, to engage with each of the defendants to advise of the impending subrogated recovery action,” said Tasneem Lorgat, General Manager, Marketing Communications at Toyota South Africa Motors.
“A successful case on behalf of Toyota could encourage others to seek compensation from municipalities and state-owned enterprises whose failure to deliver causes them losses,” Business Day cited a lawyer unconnected to the case.
Immediately after the flood, Toyota predicted a 33% drop in planned vehicle production in 2022 and potential sales revenue losses of over 27 billion rand, the newspaper reported.
Prospecton builds the Hilux pickup truck, the Fortuner SUV, Quest and Corolla Cross cars, HiAce minibuses and Hino trucks and buses. About half of production is exported, mainly to Europe.
The 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods and landslides were declared a national disaster and left more than 400 people dead.
Photograph: The Toyota plant after resuming production following flooding, in Durban, South Africa, in 2022. Photo credit: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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