As SA’s municipal infrastructure crumbles, businesses, especially those in rural areas, are raising red flags about their assets becoming uninsurable. And the biggest risk insurers must stand in for — trumping even riots and floods — is fire.

In February, Pick n Pay chair Gareth Ackerman threw down the gauntlet when he said his company is struggling to get insurance in certain local municipalities. It’s no small concern, when you consider the retailer employs more than 90,000 people in 1,910 stores across the country...