Bongumusa M. Zuma1

Catherine D. Luyt

Roman Tandlich

Tatenda Chirenda

English

IntechOpen

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This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Flood Disaster Management in South Africa: Legislative Framework and Current ChallengesBongumusa M. Zuma1,2,*, Catherine D. Luyt2, Tatenda Chirenda2, Roman Tandlich21 Institute for Environmental Biotechnology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa, tel. 00-27-46-622-2656, fax 00-27-46-603-7506, South Africa,  *corresponding author, Email: bonga.zuma@gmail.com. 2 Environmental Health and Biotechnology Research Group, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa,  tel. 00-27-46-603-8825, fax 00-27-46-603-7506.AbstractIn South Africa, the annual risk of flooding is 83.3 % and the population vulnerability is high due to economic factors and geographical location. Before 1994 the Civil Protection Act No. 67 of 1977 governed disaster management, but its framework was inadequate as demonstrated by 104 deaths in Lainsburg floods of 1981. Thus a major push came towards improvement of insti-tutional capacity and the legislative framework to deal with disaster management after 1994. The 1996 Constitution of South Africa defined the law-making powers and the responsibilities at the national, provincial and local levels of government. The Disaster Management Act No. 57 of 2002 constitutes the institutional capacity at all levels of government. Response to flooding occurring between December 2010 and February 2011 is used to examine the functionality and drawbacks of the current disaster management system. Impacts included damages to drinking water infra-structure, potential for cholera outbreaks and material losses. The response was adequate at the national level, but district municipalities struggled due to skills shortages and lack of disaster management structures. Remedial strategies are proposed using the current novel legislative tools. Research into vulnerabilities and risk must be strengthened.  1. IntroductionSouth Africa has semi-arid to arid climate and a total land area of 1.2 million square kilometres [1]. It spans between latitudes of 35° and 22° South [2] with a population of 50.5 million inhabit-ants [3]. Around 38 % of the population is concentrated on 2 % of land area in mainly urban centres [4] and the growth of the urban population places excess pressure on public services [4]; [5]. This potentially decreases disaster resilience of households [6]. The country ranks among the bottom 30 nations from around the world with respect to the population’s ability to provide sat-isfactory food and shelter at the household level and the Health Adjusted Life Expectancy stands currently at 48 years [7]. Vulnerability of the population is further indicated by the minimum living level [8]. Using the dependency ratios, the highest vulnerability is found in provinces of 128the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the North-West and Limpopo [6]. There have been 77 flood disaster events in South Africa between 1980 and 2010 [9]. A total of 1068 lost their lives in floods with the maximum of 506 in 1987 [9]. Based on these statistics, the risk of a flood occurring in a given year can be calculated at 83.3 %. In the context of climate change, the above mentioned facts pose problems in disaster management. Therefore the current legislative framework, examples of responses to recent disaster and suggestions for improvement in flood disaster management are presented in this paper. 2. National Disaster Management System of South Africa2.1. Legal FrameworkPrior to 1994, disaster management activities were governed by the Civil Protection Act No. 67 of 1977 [10]. However, its framework proved inadequate as demonstrated by 104 deaths in Lains-burg floods of 1981 [11]. This resulted in the legislative and organisational efforts for system improvement and integration in disaster management. The 1996 Constitution of South Africa in Part A Schedule 4 defines that the role of the national, provincial governments and local govern-ments [12]. The first integrated policy on disaster management was the Green Paper on Disaster Management which was published as an extension of the Civil Protection Act [13]. Next was the White Paper on Disaster Management which enshrines the cooperative, proactive and inte-grated approach to disaster risk management, training and awareness through participation of all relevant stakeholders [14]. Specific goals of the White Paper included creation of the National Disaster Management Centre, improvement of disaster prevention in the poor and disadvan-taged areas, creation of an adequate funding system; and information channels to communities [14]. The guiding principles of disaster management were then summarised and responsibilities defined in the Disaster Management Act No. 57 of 2002 [15].According to the DMA, President of the Republic of South Africa establishes the Intergovern-mental Committee on Disaster Management  (IGCDM) as stated in chapter 2 section 4 paragraph 1a [15]. According to chapter 1 section 3, the President appointed the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs to be in charge of the disaster management at the national government level [15]. Other members of the IGCDM include the National Ministers of Water and Environmental Affairs, Health, Defense, Finance, Presidency, Justice and Constitutional De-velopment; Defence; Education; Police; Provincial Ministers in charge of disaster management; representatives of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). The IGCDM is ac-countable to the cabinet which it advises on disaster management according to chapter 2 section 4 paragraphs 2 and 3 [15]. At present, a surrogate, namely Joint Disaster Management Commit-tee covers the main responsibilities of the IGCDM [16]; [17].The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) is established in terms of chapter 3 part 1 section 8 of DMA [15]. Its functions include monitoring of disasters, mobilisation of resources and coordination and response to disasters; maintaining a repository of information on disasters, and database of relevant stakeholders (see chapter 3 section 15 paragraph 1 of DMA) [15]. Section 20 in chapter 3 describes that role of the NDMC in prevention and mitigation of disasters [15]. The NDMC is required to publish annual reports on its activities and submit this to the Minister, who passes them onto the parliament within 30 days (according to chapter 3 part 1 section 24 of International Conference on Applied Life Sciences (ICALS2012)Turkey, September 10-12, 2012129ISALSDMA) [15]. All organs of state must submit disaster management plans to the NDMC according to the guidelines developed by the centre (see chapter 3 part 1 section 19 of DMA) [15]. Regular reviews and updates of these plans are mandatory and any update must be communicated to the NDMC [15]. The NDMC is preparing the GIS-linked and web-accessible indices to predict risks from floods. Role of the Provincial government in disaster management by chapter 4 of the act; and it gen-erally mirrors the structure and responsibilities of the national structures inside the particular province [15]. Premier of a given province puts one Provincial Minister in charge of disaster man-agement in that province (see chapter 2 section 4 paragraph 1b; DMA, 2002). At the municipal level of local government, disaster management is governed by chapter 5 of DMA [15]. District municipalities must have a disaster management committee/centre, while local municipalities should appoint a disaster officer [12]. As with the provincial structures, the municipal disaster management structures and their responsibilities are analogical to the national counterparts, but have different jurisdictions. As of March 2011, most of the district and local municipalities from around South Africa have not yet implemented disaster management structures as mandated by the DMA [12]. The National Department of Water Affairs (DWA) is responsible for the manage-ment of the water resource over 49 % of the total land mass of South Africa, with special attention paid to the Vaal and Orange River systems [18]. Coordination of the activities during flood disas-ters takes places in a central command centre at the DWA, i.e. the Flood Room [18]. Management of flooding and overall quality of water resources has been conducted by the governmentally-funded organisation such as Working for Wetlands and Working for Fire [19]. These decrease the risk of disease outbreaks during flooding.2.2. Involvement of Civil Society and NGOsNational Disaster Management Advisory Forum (NDMAF) is convened and appointed by the Minister in term of chapter 2 section 5 of the Disaster Management Act [15]. Mandatory members of the NDMAF include the Head of the NDMC who serves as Chair, high-ranking officials from all relevant government departments which are part of the IGCDM, municipal officials chosen by SALGA and representatives of provincial departments responsible for disaster management (see chapter 2 section 5 paragraph 1) [15]. Other members can be appointed by the National Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs from the Chamber of Mines, the business community, trade unions and NGOs (see chapter 2 section 5 paragraph 1e) [15]. The NDMAF provides a platform for input from all stakeholders; and serves as a consulting and advisory panel to the Intergovernmental Committee on Disaster Management. This mandatory forum has been in existence since 2007 [20]. The national government published the Disaster Management Guidelines for Municipalities as the Government Gazette Notice as No. 1689 of 2005 [21]. These guidelines allow local government to set up volunteer units to assist with disaster management and govern the rules and scope of possible duties [21]. These pieces of legislation and structures defined in them provide an avenue for the participation of the NGOs in disaster management.3. Flood disaster response in South AfricaBetween December 2010 and February 2011, widespread floods hit South Africa. The total dam-ages were estimated at approximately 1.1 billion USD [22] with 103 fatalities occurring [16]. The 130particular impacts included the following [18]: flooding of water pumping infrastructure in the provinces of the Free State, North-West and Kwazulu-Natal, waterborne diseases in the North-West Province, washing away of pump motors in the Free State Province, blockage in the pump-ing of raw water for treatment into the water treatment works in the Free State Province and the possibility of the cholera outbreak in the Limpopo Province. Dams at the main river systems in the country were reported to be 92-115 % of their capacity [18]. To deal with the floods and their impacts, the National Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs released 488 000 USD from the Ministry’s Emergency Relief Fund to effectively manage dam levels; raise awareness and to funds to relief operations [22]. To address the humanitarian needs, the National Department of Social Development provided 43.2 million USD from the Social Relief of Distress fund, the Emer-gency Relief Fund, the Disaster Relief Fund and the National treasury allocation [22].The Flood Assistance Scheme was activated by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fish-eries; and 3.4 million USD was released for damage assessment and agricultural relief to farmers [17]. Departments of Public Works and Defence and Veterans Affairs built 12 low-cost bridges [22]. The IDT Programme has allocated 31.2 million USD for building of mud schools and road repair round the disaster affected areas [22]. The National Government Disease Outbreak Moni-toring by the Department of Health was used to monitor drinking and surface water quality, while 18.8 million USD spent on emergency housing by the National Department of Human Settlements [22]. Therefore the national government response was deemed adequate. However, research into understanding the risks of flooding is still limited and must be strengthened [23]; [24]. Focus must be placed on investigating the risks and vulnerabilities during storm surges/coastal flooding [25] and implications from the acid-mine drainage [23]. Dissemination of the disaster-related information must also be improved at the national level [25].Major problems exist in disaster management at the local government level [16]. In 2011, 50 % of local municipalities in South Africa lacked the disaster management structures, while 68 % of local and 25 % of district municipalities did not have the disaster management advisory forums [12]. Disaster management roles were often assigned to existing civil defense structure in lo-cal municipalities [12]. Thus the fire-and-rescue services and police become overburdened, i.e. diminishing the efficiency of the flood response. At the same time, the stakeholder involvement was also not possible due to the lack of the advisory forums and volunteer units. Constitution of the mandatory disaster management structures must be made a priority by provincial and na-tional governments. Training of local officials by SALGA and other relevant institutions will also have to be strengthened. Where this is not feasible the disaster management advisory forums and volunteer units should be established and made operational as a priority. Local municipali-ties have been urged to implement a variety of early warning systems for disasters [26].4. References[1] South African General Information (SA Geo, 2011). Available at: http://www.southafrica.info/about/geography/geography.htm (website accessed 9th November 2011).[2] Engelbrecht, F., Landman, W. (2010). Current Climate. In: South Africa risk and vulnerability atlas; the South African National Department of Science and Technology Eds., CPD Print: Pretoria, South Africa, pp. 2-5.International Conference on Applied Life Sciences (ICALS2012)Turkey, September 10-12, 2012131ISALS[3] Statistics South Africa. (SSA, 2011). Mid-year population estimates 2011. Statistical release P0302, Statistics South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa, pp. 18, 2011.[4] South African Cities Network, the Department of Provincial and Local Government and The Presidency. (SACN, 2009). National Spatial Trends Overview. Available at: http://www.sacities.net/what/programmes-areas/inclusive/spatial/projects/659-spatial (website accessed on 30th April 2012).[5] Van Huyssteen, E., Oranje, M., Robinson, S., Makoni, E. (2009). South Africa’s City Regions: A Call for Contemplation… and Action. Urban Forum 20(2): 175-194.[6] le Roux, A.; van Huyssteen, E. (2010). Socio-Economic Landscape: The South African Socio-economic and Settlement Landscape, In: South Africa risk and vulnerability atlas; the South African National Department of Science and Technology Eds., CPD Print: Pretoria, South Africa, pp. 15-21.[7] The Legatum Prosperity Index (LPI, 2011). Available at: http://www.prosperity.com/country.aspx?id=ZA (website accessed 9th November 2011).[8] The Presidency of South Africa (2006). National Spatial Development Perspective. The Presidency, Pretoria, South Africa.[9] Prevention Web. (PRW, 2011). South Africa - Disaster Statistics. Available at: http://www.preventionweb.net/english/countries/statistics/?cid=160 (website accessed 10th November 2011).[10] Civil Protection Act No. 67 of 1977 (Civil Protection Act, 1977). Enacted by Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[11] South African Weather Disaster Information System. (SAWDIS, 2009). The Laingsburg Flood Disaster: January 1981. Available at:  http://saweatherobserver.blogspot.com/2009/10/laingsburg-flood-disaster-january-1981.html (website accessed on 10th November 2011).[12] South African Local Government Association (SALGA, 2011). Disaster Risk Management Status Assessment at Municipalities in South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.[13] Green Paper on Disaster Management in South Africa (GPDM, 1998). Available at: http://www.info.gov.za/view/DownloadFileAction?id=68922 (website accessed on 10th November 2011).[14] South African Government Gazette Notice no. 23 of 1999 (WPDM, 1999). White Paper on Disaster Management. Pretoria, South Africa.[15] Disaster Management Act no. 57 of 2002. Available at: http://www.mangaung.co.za/Legal-Services/Documents/Disaster%20Management%20Act.pdf (website accessed on 10th November 2011).[16] Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (2011). Flooding Disaster Management: December 2010/ January 2011: Update by Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance. Minutes from the committee meeting held on 28th February 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[17] Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (2011). Flood Disaster Management; Local Government Municipal Systems Amendment Bill: Departmental briefing. Minutes from the committee meeting held on 25th January 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.132[18] Maswuma, L. Z. (2011). Management of Floods / Disaster. Presentation to the Portfolio Committee: Water & Environment, Meeting took place on 21st February 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa. [19] Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs (2011). Department of Environmental Affairs 2011 Strategic Plan continued: Meeting minutes. Meeting held on 12th April 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[20] National Disaster Management Centre (2007). Annual report 2006-2007. National Disaster Management Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. [21] Department of Local and Provincial Government (DMR, 2005). The Disaster Management Regulations: Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002. Government Gazette Notice no. 1689 of 2005, Department of Local and Provincial Government, Pretoria, South Africa.  [22] Africa, E. (2011). Presentation to the Portfolio Committee: Update on the Management of Recent Disaster Incidents. Presentation given the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. Presented on 3rd March 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[23] Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs (2011). Acid Mine Drainage: hearings (day 1). Meeting minutes. Meeting held on 20th June 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[24]  Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs (2011). White Paper on Climate Change: Public hearings. Meeting held on 14thNovember 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[25] Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs (2011). Climate Change Green Paper 2010: Public Hearings Day 1. Meeting minutes. Meeting held on 2nd March  2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.[26] Portfolio Committee on Water and Environmental Affairs (2011). Climate Change White Paper: Department of Environment Affairs briefing. Meeting minutes. Meeting held on 17th October 2011, Parliament of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa.

Flood Disaster Management in South Africa: Legislative Framework and Current Challenges

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Flood Disaster Management in South Africa: Legislative Framework and Current Challenges

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