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D
ISASTER MANAGEMENT AS
a formal academic subject is
still in its infant phase within South Africa, with only a
few tertiary institutions offering it as a graduate course.
The promulgation of the South African Disaster Management Act
of 2002 (Act 57), and the finalization of the Disaster Management
Framework are both regarded as major milestones in the align-
ment of South Africa’s disaster management strategy with
international developments.
1
The Hyogo Declaration for Disaster
Risk Reduction, adopted during January 2005 by most nations of
the world, also supports the new approach of risk reduction as
the cornerstone of disaster management in South Africa.
Professional practitioners and academic institutions realized the
importance of disaster management as an educational and research
topic during 2000. Consequently, at the end of 2000, the South
African Qualifications Authority approved the first graduate
programme in the subject (a Masters in disaster management). The
only formal disaster management tertiary education courses avail-
able prior to this were offered at diploma and B.Tech degree level
by Technicon SA, and these courses were based mainly on mater-
ial developed by the United Nations University (UNU).
During 2002, the first 11 students enrolled for the Masters
degree at the Disaster Management Training and Education
Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) at the University of the Free State.
During the same period, the University of the North-West also
instituted two diploma courses (one year and two years) in disas-
ter management through the African Centre for Disaster Studies.
This was closely followed by a Masters course at the Disaster
Mitigation for Sustainable Livelihoods Programme at the
University of Cape Town.
Student profile
The Masters in disaster management offered by the University of
the Free State is currently Africa’s largest graduate training
programme in disaster management, with 91 students enrolled
from different African countries. The growth in new student
numbers (from 11 students in 2002 to 45 new students in 2006)
exceeds all expectations and is proof of the need for disaster
management education in Africa. The dramatic growth in
numbers during 2006 can partly be attributed to a learnership
support programme by the Department of Science and
Technology (DST), which supports 15 students with more than
ZAR2.3 million for the duration of their course. To date, eight
students have successfully graduated from the programme. The
remainder of the students continue the process of completing
their dissertation component (it has been found that completion
of research and dissertation elements is difficult within the
prescribed one-year duration).
The importance of graduate training with an African perspec-
tive is demonstrated by the demographic breakdown of students
enrolled on the course, with 26 per cent being from countries
other than South Africa, including Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Zambia,
Sudan, Kenya and Angola. Gender equality among disaster
management practitioners remains a huge challenge in South
Africa, with men taking the majority of disaster management
specialist roles. However, with women comprising 36 per cent of
enrolled students on the Masters course, this is set to change.
The majority of students in South Africa are employed within
disaster management structures at local municipal and provin-
cial government level. More than 60 per cent of these students
hold senior middle-management and senior management posi-
tions. Only eight of the learnership programme students within
the DST programme are full-time students without permanent
appointments. Students from other African countries are
employed by their home countries’ police services, governments
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Disaster management graduate training:
a contribution towards risk reduction in SADC
A.J. Jordaan, Director, Disaster Risk Management Training and Education Centre for Africa,
University of the Free State, South Africa
2002
5
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
2003
2004
2005
2006
Number of students enrolled
Year
Growth in first-year student numbers,
Masters in disaster management (2002-2006)
Source: Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC)