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has it made the job of disaster management functionaries and
disaster risk scientists easier?
There is a general belief that the tsunami and Katrina focused
the minds of many decision-makers, in the same way that the
1994 flooding in Cape Town did, and that in some areas it has
advanced the South African DRM agenda.
The South African Council for Geoscience has increased its
seismic monitoring capacity through its involvement in the Indian
Ocean Tsunami Early Warning System, and there is more collab-
oration among African countries on this subject.
Some academics, however, argue that the tsunami has, quite
inappropriately, set back the field of DRM, diverting energy from
developmental risk reduction (associated with vulnerability reduc-
tion), towards technology and early warning. They believe early
warning alone does not go anywhere, and that the resurfacing of
an exclusive natural risk approach to disaster management has
caused Africa to ‘fall off the planet’ as far as international assis-
tance for disaster risk reduction is concerned. The South African
risk profile, for example, is a mixture that includes food insecu-
rity, drought and complex emergencies along with other risks that
have both human and natural origins.
Opinions also differ on whether the uptake of the DRM agenda
by South African stakeholders, especially national government
departments, has increased. It is encouraging that departments
have gone beyond simply attending meetings and have taken full
responsibility for reducing disaster risk and planning for response
within their own sphere of influence. National departments such
as Agriculture, Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), and bodies
such as the SA Weather Services and Agriculture South Africa
(AgriSA) are moving ahead with DRM as it relates to natural risks.
However, some academics feel that DRM is not yet a national
priority embraced by all departments and agencies.
The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) concedes
that one major challenge faced by national government during
the process of establishing effective legislative and institutional
frameworks was how to make disaster risk reduction a major
policy issue. “It is always difficult to engage policy makers in a
dialogue on reducing disasters and the social and economic bene-
fits of investing in this when these are not always obvious or
immediate. To this day, the focus is still heavily weighted on disas-
ter response and not on prevention and risk reduction. Reaching
those most at risk is also difficult since they are often more
focused on meeting the challenges of daily chronic risk, not disas-
ter risk or sustainable development, and this perspective is
difficult to modify.”
The tsunami and subsequent international disasters were given
extensive media coverage in South Africa, which created sudden
concern about seismic risk. Evidence suggests an increase in
school programmes on disaster management implemented by
metropolitan and district municipalities, and an increase in local
media interest in disaster management programmes.
If nothing else, recent global disasters have given disaster
management officials vivid pictures and memories with which to
associate public awareness and preparedness messages. What
remains to be seen is how long the public memory and attention
span will be.
The Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa
Reform in the disaster management discipline in South Africa has
gone beyond external policy dictates. Since before the 1994 deci-
sion to revisit disaster management policy, another force has been
contributing to a paradigm shift away from a response-and-
preparedness-only mentality among disaster management offi-
cials.
The Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa (DMISA)
aims to advance the discipline and create learning and networking
opportunities. DMISA, which is 21 years old in 2006, has engaged
with the NDMC on various occasions. Regular meetings between
DMISA leadership and the NDMC ensures a constant flow of infor-
mation from functionaries in all spheres of government, directly to
the NDMC – cutting red tape and improving cooperation and
understanding. DMISA is a self-governing body committed to stan-
dardization, and hosts the biggest annual DRM conference in Africa
– routinely attracting more than 350 delegates.
In partnership with the NDMC, DMISA plays an important role
in furthering the interests of DRM practitioners in South Africa
and in the Southern Africa region as a whole.
DMISA has kept pace with global changes since its inception,
and has undergone several name changes and considerable consti-
tutional reforms in recent years. Founded in April 1985 as the
Civil Defence Association of South Africa, it has contributed signif-
icantly to South Africa’s legislative reform in DRM.
When the institute was established, civil defence services were
rendered according to the provisions of the Civil Defence Act (Act
67 of 1977) and the Fund Raising Act of 1978. However, it
became increasingly apparent that civil defence and protection
had to change to keep abreast with international approaches to
disasters and how they were managed. The International Decade
for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), introduced by the
United Nations (UN) during the 1990s, was a clear call for the
world to shift the focus away from reactive disaster responses
onto disaster prevention and preparedness and building resilience
through developmental initiatives.
The changes within the Institute reflected the changes in think-
ing and approach among practitioners in the field, as well as a
move away from military influence towards a reaffirmation of the
principles of civilian control and democracy.
DMISA organized a study tour to Europe and the United
Kingdom in 1990, which contributed significantly to a para-
digm shift from civil defence and protection to disaster
management in South Africa. Coming at the end of the apartheid
era, the tour was accepted by the UN in Geneva. As a result,
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The changing face of DMISA
Date
Development
26 April 1985 Founded as the Civil Defence Association of South Africa
1994
Name change to: Civil Protection Association of South
Africa
1996
Name change to: Emergency and Disaster Management
Association of Southern Africa
1998
Name change to: Disaster Management Association of
Southern Africa
2000
Name change to: Disaster Management Institute of
Southern Africa (DMISA)
2005
Decision to investigate transformation to a statutory
professional body where disaster management
professionals are required to register
Source: Reid, 2006