Address (via Skype) by Mr Andries Nel, MP, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs at the Conference of the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa held in Mosselbay
Programme Director,
Mr Anton Bredell, Minister for Local Government, Environment Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape,
Executive Mayors and Mayors of municipalities within the Western Cape,
Prof Dr Jakob Rhyner, Vice Rector, United Nations University,
Mr Ken Terry, Head: National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC),
Distinguished delegates and guests,
Ladies and Gentleman,
Good morning,
I would like to convey the greetings and the best wishes of the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr Pravin Gordhan.
In August this year we commemorated the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans in the United States in 2005. On this occasion President Barack Obama said:
"And we came to realize that what started out as a natural disaster became a manmade disaster -- a failure of government to look out for its own citizens. And the storm laid bare a deeper tragedy that had been brewing for decades because we came to understand that New Orleans, like so many cities and communities across the country, had for too long been plagued by structural inequalities that left too many people, especially poor people, especially people of color, without good jobs or affordable health care or decent housing. Too many kids grew up surrounded by violent crime, cycling through substandard schools where few had a shot to break out of poverty. And so like a body weakened already, undernourished already, when the storm hit, there was no resources to fall back on."
The Dutch architect and planner, Reinier de Graaf notes in an article published recently in Dezeen magazine that by 2020 there will be 33 megalopolises, 28 of which will be located in third-world countries.
He argues that, "Globalisation has exported metropolitan conditions into the third-world, it has also imported third-world conditions into the metropolis."
He further argues that, "The next round of this ideological battle will be fought not over continents, but over cities. The challenge will come from whoever will be able to galvanise the support of all those denied a voice in the urban condition."
Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 – 2030
The theme for this conference is: “The 2030 Resilience, Sustainability and Adaptation Mandate: A new action agenda for Disaster Risk Reduction.”
We are here to discuss how to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai, Japan in March 2015.
The Sendai Framework succeeds and builds on the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005 –2015: Building Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters.
Progress has been achieved in reducing disaster risk at local, national, regional and global levels since the adoption of the Hyogo Framework in 2005.
However, disasters continue to have devastating consequences, especially for the most vulnerable and poor communities.
Over 700 thousand people have lost their lives, over 1.4 million have been injured and approximately 23 million have been left homeless as a result of disasters.
More than 1.5 billion people have been affected by disasters in various ways, with women, children and people in vulnerable situations disproportionately affected (UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 2015).
Disasters, many of which are exacerbated by climate change have continued to increase in frequency and intensity, thereby significantly impeding progress towards sustainable development.
Programme Director,
The Sendai Framework emphasises disaster risk management as opposed to disaster management - preventing new risk and strengthening resilience.
Implementation of this Framework must be guided by the following principles:
- Each state has a responsibility to prevent and reduce disaster risk, including through international, regional, sub-regional, transboundary and bilateral cooperation;
- This responsibility must be shared by central governments and relevant national authorities, sectors and stakeholders, as appropriate to their national circumstances and systems of governance;
- The enabling, guiding and coordinating role of national and federal governments is essential. However, local authorities and local communities must also be empowered with resources and decision making power, to reduce disaster risk;
- DRR requires an all-of-society engagement and partnership;
- DRR is essential to achieve sustainable development;
- Addressing underlying disaster risk factors through disaster risk-informed public and private investments is more cost-effective than primary reliance on post-disaster response and recovery, and contributes to sustainable development.
Role of NDMC in implementation of Sendai Framework
Programme Director,
The Sendai Framework recognises the responsibility of each for preventing and reducing disaster risk.
In South Africa the National Disaster Management Centre, established in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002, is mandated:
“To promote an integrated and coordinated system of disaster management, with special emphasis on prevention and mitigation, by national, provincial and municipal organs of state, statutory functionaries, other role-players involved in disaster management and communities."
The NDMC will play a leading rile in implementing the Sendai Framework by:
- Promoting and improving dialogue and cooperation among scientific and technological communities, other relevant stakeholders and policymakers to ensure a science-policy interface for effective decision-making in disaster risk management;
- Supporting the use of traditional, indigenous and local knowledge and practices to complement other scientific knowledge in disaster risk assessment and the development and implementation of policies, strategies, plans and programmes;
- Establishing and strengthening coordination forums composed of relevant stakeholders at the national and local levels;
- Empowering local authorities through regulatory and financial means to work and coordinate with civil society, communities and indigenous peoples and migrants in disaster risk management at the local level;
- Promoting the integration of DRR considerations and measures in financial and fiscal instruments, and
- Promoting regional cooperation to deal with disaster preparedness, including through common exercises and drills.
Disaster Management Amendment Bill 2015
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Disaster Management Act, 2002 is being amended. The Disaster Management Amendment Bill, 2015 has been passed by the National Assembly and is now before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
The Act is being amended to address challenges and gaps identified during the implementation of this legislation. These amendments are consistent with the Sendai Framework.
Some of the key amendments are:
- Alignment of the National Disaster Management Advisory Forum (NDMAF) with the national platform for DRR;
- Clarification of the role of the South African Police Services and the South African National Defence Force;
- Alignment of disaster reporting to structures established by the Intergovernmental Relations Act, 2005;
- Inclusion of adaptation to climate change in Disaster Management Plans;
- Provision to make Regulations on disaster management education, training and research & declaration and classification of disasters.
Interface between Sendai Framework and Back to Basics
Our government has adopted the Back to Basics approach to ensure that all municipalities perform their basic responsibilities and functions without compromise.
This programme is built on five pillars i.e. putting people first; ensuring the delivery of basic services; practicing good governance and and sound financial management; as well as building strong and resilient institutional and administrative capabilities.
In this regard we welcome the recognition of the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa (DMISA) as a professional body for the purposes of the National Qualifications Framework Act. We also welcome the approval of the registration of the designation “Disaster Management Professional" by the SAQA Board in March 2015. These developments will promote the professionalization of this important discipline.
The Back to Basics approach speaks directly to Priority 2 of the Sendai Framework that focuses on strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk.
National and local government are expected to assign clear roles and tasks to community representatives regarding disaster risk management.
Impact of aging infrastructure on disaster risk
Civil infrastructure systems are complex networks that are vulnerable to earthquakes, extreme winds, floods, wildfires, terrorism, etc.
However, aging materials, inadequate maintenance, and excessively prolonged service-lives are passive threats that are more insidious, but can be equally disruptive.
When infrastructure systems have been weakened by excessive age or inadequate maintenance, they are more vulnerable to otherwise survivable events.
The death of almost 1000 victims in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was caused by the failure of old and poorly maintained levees, not directly by the hurricane itself.
Disaster risk management must be central to infrastructure management. We must continue to expand our understanding of how infrastructure age and condition affects its performance and risk of failures.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
South Africa is facing drought conditions as a result of prolonged lower-than required rainfall. This has led to water shortages in a number of dams and water schemes. The provinces most affected are KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), North West, Free State and Limpopo. In the Western Cape the Karoo is experiencing green drought whilst Mpumalanga and Northern Cape are less affected.
The four significantly affected provinces have declared provincial states of disaster. KZN declared a state of provincial disaster in July 2014 and is currently implementing its recovery plan with support from the Department of Water and Sanitation.
An amount of R24 million from the Emergency Municipal Disaster Grant administered by CoGTA through NDMC was transferred to affected municipalities to respond and recover from the impacts of drought.
The NDMC is currently supporting North West, Free State and Limpopo in ensuring that the drought situation is mitigated and responded to.
Drought is a slow onset event and it is required of all relevant stakeholders to put measures in place to prevent and mitigate the situation before it escalates to a disaster event.
We expect that this conference will emerge with concrete recommendations on how to build community resilience within the context of the Sendai Framework and the Back to Basics Approach.
I thank you!
For further information contact:
Mpho Lekgoro:
Cell: 071 607 3081
E-mail: mphol@cogta.gov.za
