Function

• The primary function of the Act is to ensure that all providers of long-term insurance register with the South Africa government. A long-term insurer is defined by the Act as any individual or entity that sells long-term policies.
  
  

Effects

• The Act creates the government position of the Registrar and the Deputy Registrar of Long-term Insurance, who is in charge of issuing licenses to long-term insurers in South Africa. Applicants must either be a public company or incorporated and they must prove that they have sufficient capital to perform their business.
  
  

Features

• One feature of the Act is to provide for new regulations on long-term insurers. The Act requires all long-term insurers to designate one or more auditors appointed to their business and they may not also be sellers of short-term insurances unless they have appropriate registration (as found in the Short-Term Insurance Act of 1998).