R Dyantyi: Disaster Management Volunteer Programme

7 October 2006

Honourable member of the Executive Mayoral Committee
The President of the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa
Councillors
Officials and guests attending this event

It is an absolute honour and privilege for me to have this opportunity to
launch the Disaster Management Volunteer Programme as well as the International
Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction Week. As part of the United Nation's
International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (ISDR), the second week of
October is annually dedicated towards 'reducing the risk of disasters'. I would
therefore like to take this opportunity to illustrate the Western Cape's
commitment and support in this regard.

Before we go into specifics, I would like to give you a broader picture of
Disaster Management in its international, national and provincial perspective.
Frequently, around the world disasters are occurring. Over the past year and a
half we experienced the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, killing
approximately 300 000 people, the huge hurricanes in North America of which
hurricane Katrina remains vividly in our minds. More recently another tsunami
hit Java's Southern Coast killing more than 500 people. Other incidents were
the devastating veld and forest fires in Europe and Australia and then we have
to take cognisance of the fact that the future of the world's existence is
threatened by 'global warming'. What a doom and gloom picture.

Closer to home the Western Cape remains one of the most disaster prone
provinces in South Africa. Many of the province's formally declared disasters
are triggered by extreme weather conditions like rain, wind and slow rising
water tables. The occurrence of fires in informal settlements as well as fires
in the veld and national forest areas also causes major disruption and havoc in
this province.

Events recorded in the Western Cape from 2005 to date, which will serve as a
testimony of the high frequency of disasters in the Western Cape, are as
follows:

* December 2004: Major flooding Overberg, Cape Winelands and Southern Cape
causing damage of approximately R27 million.
* January 2005: Flooding in Mossel Bay causing damage of approximately R2,5
million. Fire in Joe Slovo caused damage to approximately 3 150 formal and
informal houses. Second Major fire in Kayamandi destroyed approximately 300
structures.
* April 2005: Major floods in Overberg District Municipal area. The final
disaster assessment figures were estimated to be above R9 million.
* Feb 2006: The major fires in Cape Winelands, Table Mountain and Overberg Area
amounted to approximately R25 million on direct losses and approximately R650
million on indirect losses.

While some of the inhabitants of the Western Cape were still caught in the
negative effects of the declared drought areas in the Western Cape, other
residents had to deal with the devastating consequences of the floods in the
Overberg, Cape Winelands and the Southern Cape, which occurred during July and
August. Preliminary disaster damage estimations of this event exceeds the R600
million mark, of which more than R300 million of the losses incurred are
non-insured losses.

The effective implementation of the new Disaster Management Act provides for
the necessary structures, mechanisms and systems to effectively deal with
disasters, prevent and mitigate the effects of disasters as well as to prepare
and recover from disasters. The Act became operational on 1 April 2004, for
national and provincial government and 1 July 2004, for municipalities. The
two-year implementation period that follows the proclamation date, has now
lapsed, placing a huge responsibility on all three spheres of government to
address the requirements of the Act.

In the province of the Western Cape we however believe that prevention is
better than cure. We also believe in the Provincial Government's vision, namely
"to make the Western Cape a home for all". This is achieved through the
implementation strategy which is known as "Ikapa Elihlumayo" which means a
"growing and sharing Cape" This strategy entails the following principles:

* building communities and families
* developing skills of people
* building strategic infrastructure
* developing the provincial economy
* integrating economic and social development
* co-ordinating and integrating service delivery
* improving financial governance
* improving the relationship between provincial and local government

None of the above mentioned priorities of "iKapa elihlumayo" can be
successful if we cannot address the disasters and risk that our communities
have to face on a daily basis.

To make sure that the Western Cape is "a home for all", it is absolutely
essential that the safety of the citizens and visitors in the Western Cape is
ensured. This will mainly be achieved with the effective implementation of the
new Disaster Management Act 2002, which provides for the necessary solutions to
ensure that human beings do not reside in high risk areas, which makes them
vulnerable to disasters. The Act became operational on 1 April 2004, for
National and Provincial Government and 01 July 2004, for municipalities. There
is a two-year implementation period that follows the proclamation date, placing
a huge responsibility on all three spheres of government.

In the Western Cape, commitment towards the implementation of Disaster
Management is best demonstrated through the Disaster Management Training,
Education, Awareness and Marketing (TEAM) Programme which is the foundation of
the volunteer programme in the Western Cape. The TEAM programme was proposed as
a disaster management project, with the intent and purpose to "enhance risk
reduction and coping skills of residents in the most vulnerable areas in the
Western Cape through the provision of training, education and marketing
interventions. These interventions are tailored to specific disaster hazards
and risk applicable to vulnerable communities."

The TEAM Programme has the following objectives, namely to:

* build the capacity of identified municipalities to prevent and mitigate
disasters in their poorest communities
* introduce a capacity building initiative, which will enhance the survival
skills of vulnerable residents to overcome the detrimental effects of
disasters
* provide training that is tailored to the needs of residents of the most
vulnerable communities in terms of the hazards they face. This training could
include, but should not be limited to first aid, home care/safety, fire and
flooding prevention/preparedness and disaster management training
* the above training programme will be co-ordinated by the applicable
municipality with the support and ownership of the relevant municipal and
provincial line departments with the inclusion of the appropriate community
based organisations (CBOs) as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
All the institutions are responsible to address their wider social,
developmental and enforcement issues within their sphere of influence in an
integrated manner.
* establish a culture of community safety awareness
* focus on both pro-active and reactive issues
* design a disaster risk reduction plan, which will include an emergency plan
for each targeted community within a municipality.

The funding for the TEAM Programme was however a problem due to a lack of
funding for this purpose at provincial level. This funding obstacle was however
overcome with funds (R1 873 200 00), sponsored by the Development Fund of the
Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). The Development Fund's aim is to
facilitate efficient and effective service delivery and to support
municipalities in their constitutional responsibilities. This is done by
offering assistance to address capacity challenges faced by the municipalities
and to communities they serve.

The following 10 most vulnerable communities were identified in the Western
Cape and training has already commenced or has been completed:

* Masiphumelele
* Doornbach
* Phola Park
* Khayelitsha TR Section
* Wallacedene
* Witsand
* De Doorns
* Kayamandi
* George Informal Settlement Area
* Theewaterskloof.

The TEAM Programme was designed as a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary
approach. Relevant government departments will be responsible for the
implementation of their line function activities namely:

* fire safety: fire brigade services of municipalities
* first aid: provincial Department of Health in collaboration with Social
Services and similar structures on municipal level
* home care: provincial Department of Health in collaboration with Social
Services and similar structures on municipal level
* disaster management: provincial and municipal disaster management
structures.

At present there are already volunteers trained in the different categories
mentioned above. The target date of the completion of this volunteer programme
is end March 2007. The programme will be maintained by my department, whilst
additional funding is sourced for its application in the high risk and
vulnerable areas in the Western Cape.

The second programme I also want to refer to today is the "Disaster Risk
Reduction Begins at School" Programme. This programme was developed by the
United Nations as part of their International Strategy for Disaster Risk
Reduction (ISDR).

The objectives of the schools programme are to promote:

* the inclusion of disaster risk reduction knowledge into primary and
secondary school curricula in countries prone to natural hazards
* local risk assessment and disaster preparedness programmes with the
participation of secondary schools acting as a resource centre for disaster
risk reduction
* the protection and strengthening of schools, through proper design,
retrofitting and re-building, to make them resilient to natural hazards. In
this province we are already investigating the possible obtainment of a
programme that was developed by the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in
Gauteng and the Institute of Disaster Reduction of Potchefstroom
University.

A task team which comprises the provincial Disaster Management Centre, the
provincial Department of Education and several NGOs of which the Child
Prevention Accident Foundation of South Africa is one, are presently
investigating the contents of the programme for application in the Western
Cape.

At this stage the already developed school programme seems to be suited for
the Western Cape and as soon as the necessary funding is acquired we hope to
launch this programme in three schools in this province in collaboration with
the Department of Education, Child Prevention Accident Foundation South Africa
and the Institute of Disaster Risk Reduction.

At this stage I would like to launch the volunteer programme in the Western
Cape. I also pledge my department's support towards the ISDR's "Disaster Risk
Reduction Begins at School" project, which is to be piloted in three schools in
the 2007 school year.

I would like to than everyone who has contributed towards a safer Western
Cape Province and that we all will strive to make this province a "home for
all."

Issued by: Department of Local Government and Housing, Western Cape
Provincial Government
7 October 2006
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za)