The Department of Cooperative Governance is responsible for disaster management in South Africa.
The Disaster Management Act, 2002 was promulgated in 2003. The National Disaster Management Centre with functional disaster-management centres and advisory forums were established in eight provinces.
The National Disaster-Management Advisory Forum was recognised by the United Nations (UN) as the national platform for reducing disaster risk.
South Africa has also made significant progress in respect of the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action – a global blueprint which aims to substantially reduce disaster losses by 2015.
Through the NDMC, the Department of Cooperative Governance registered unit standards for levels three to seven with the South African Qualifications Authority for a national certificate in disaster risk management. The department also developed regulations for recruiting and using disaster management volunteers.
Source: SA Yearbook 2015/16
