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S
OUTH
A
FRICA CELEBRATES
12 years of democracy in 2006,
having held its first free and fair elections in 1994, a year
that also signified a new beginning for disaster management.
In 1994, the combination of a natural hazard with unplanned
and unsustainable development created untold misery when
flooding occurred in the impoverished Cape Flats area of Cape
Town. As is often the case, the disaster became a catalyst for
change. Against the background of accelerating political reform
in the country after 1990, the Cape Flats floods resulted in the
Government initiating an inclusive, consultative reform process
in 1994. The first deliverable of this process was the Green Paper
on Disaster Management, published in 1998.
The Government’s commitment to this reform process was
evidenced in 1997 by cabinet approval of the establishment of
an Inter-ministerial Committee (IMC) for disaster management,
consisting of cabinet ministers carrying portfolios relevant to the
field of disaster management. This committee was mandated to
table the Green Paper on Disaster Management for cabinet
approval.
The Green Paper was followed shortly by the White Paper on
Disaster Management, which was gazetted in 1999 and the
Disaster Management Bill, tabled in Parliament in 2000. The
Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) was promulgated and,
finally, the National Disaster Management (Policy) Framework
which was to guide the implementation of the Act was gazetted
in 2005.
Developments in education and academic research
Since 1994, pioneering academics and disaster risk scientists
within South Africa have contributed continuously to the policy
reform process, challenging the mindsets of bureaucratic compla-
cency. Academic and vocational training in disaster management,
supported by international and locally developed curricula,
continues to play a valuable role in achieving a mind-shift among
practitioners.
Today, South Africa is seeing an increased focus on postgradu-
ate studies in disaster risk management (DRM), with various
universities starting to offer Honours, Masters and even PhD
programmes. There is already a healthy, multidisciplinary mix in
these programmes, with some approaching the subject from a
natural sciences and disaster risk science perspective, while others
approach it from the perspective of government responsibility and
public service delivery. Research and higher education institutions
are increasingly involved, seeing disaster management as a viable
field of scholarship, and there is international interest in engaging
with local academic institutions on the subject. The field is gaining
credibility, but it is important to ensure that science underpins
practice, and that practice feeds back into science.
The influence of the worldwide spate of natural disasters
Did the recent spate of natural disasters across the globe raise
awareness regarding disaster management in South Africa, and
The changing face of disaster management in
South Africa: managing the move from
response only, to risk reduction and response
Lance Williams, Louis Buys, George Kilian, Johan Minnie, Dr Dewald van Niekerk,
Pat Reid and Ferdie Mocke, National Disaster Management Centre, South Africa
and the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa
The changing face of South African disaster management legislation,
policy and governance
Date
Development
1977
Civil Protection Act, 67 of 1977
1978
Fund Raising Act of 1978
1997
Inter-ministerial Committee (IMC) for Disaster
Management established
1998
Green Paper on Disaster Management
1999
White Paper on Disaster Management
2000
Disaster Management Bill
2003
Disaster Management Act, Act 57 of 2002, promulgated
on 15 January 2003
29 April 2005 National Disaster Management (Policy) Framework
published
27 June 2005 Inter-governmental Committee on Disaster Management
(ICDM) established
28 June 2005 Government-to-government agreement between South
Africa and Sweden was entered into, contributing to the
establishment of a National Disaster Risk Management
System
31 July 2006
Deadline for implementation of National Disaster
Management Act at local government level.
Source: Buys, 2005; Reid, 2006;
Government Digest
, May 2006