Provincial Disaster Management Workshop
5 March 2009
Programme director, Ms Gabi Gumbi-Masilela Head of Department of Local
Government and Traditional Affairs
Your worship, the Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Councillor Obed
Mlaba,
Convenor of the Inter-MEC Committee for Disaster Management and
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Housing, Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Mr
Mike Mabuyakhulu
Members of the Inter-MEC Committee for Disaster Management (all MECs)
Members of the legislature
Mayors and Councillors
Amakhosi
Government officials
Disaster Management Experts and Practitioners
Representatives from the private sector
Representatives of Non Government Organisations (NGOs) and CBOs involved in
disaster management
Members of the media,
Ladies and gentlemen
It is indeed our pleasure, as the government of KwaZulu-Natal, to host this
ground breaking and critical summit on disasters. Our gratitude, in particular,
is extended to the Inter-MEC Committee for Disaster Management, which is
accountable to the executive council (Cabinet) for all matters relating to
disasters in our province, for organising this summit. These honourable members
of our executive council are at the core of our attempts to mobilise resources,
deploy resources and, critically, to provide strategic direction to the entire
province on how to deal with disasters. We also want to acknowledge the
specific role played by our colleague, the convenor of this Inter-MEC Committee
for Disaster Management and MEC for Housing, Local Government and Traditional
Affairs, Mr Michael Mabuyakhulu, in putting together this summit.
The importance of this summit is accentuated by the fact that our province
has been prone to an increasing number of disasters, over the past few years.
We are a government that always demands more of itself in service delivery to
the people of our province. However, while our responses to these disasters
have, indeed, contributed to saving lives and mitigating the impact of these
disasters, we can do much better in disaster management in KwaZulu-Natal. We
are here today to respond to the question: âHow can we collectively work better
to prevent disasters and ameliorate their impact on communities?â
Programme director, we understand that there are experts on disaster
management present at this summit today. We are sure that they would give a
very detailed and informed definition of a disaster.
But, we feel that American poet Brynn Bettin captures succinctly what
happens during a disaster.
By extension, Bettin gives a somewhat colourful definition of a disaster
when he says:
Disaster
* People running
* Women screaming
* Children yelling
Disaster
* People feeding
* Women saving
* Children crying
Relief
* People building
* Women cooking
* Children playing
* Restoration
Expressed in this poem are three elements of a disaster, at least as the
poet sees them. The poet states that there is a time when a disaster occurs,
which is characterised by people running, women screaming and children yelling.
The second element is where relief is brought to the victims. The third element
is the restoration element, where we rebuild lives and ensure that the lives of
people are restored to normality.
As has been outlined already, while the first prize is to try and prevent
disasters from occurring, it is critical that we are able to organise
ourselves, across the spectrum, to bring relief to those affected by disasters.
If those who are supposed to deal with this second element of disaster
management are uncoordinated in their efforts, then, indeed, we can only work
to exacerbate the disaster, rather than help our people.
Therefore, a co-co-ordinated approach to disaster management is key to,
even, attracting other role-players to contribute towards our efforts to
bringing relief to those affected.
The third element restoration also demands that our facts are correct and
that we are able to quantify the extent of the damage, and the resources needed
to address that damage. Again, co-ordination characterised by synergistic
partnerships among stakeholders and based on universally accepted protocols,
will ensure that we do not turn disasters into catastrophes.
Disaster SOS
Programme director, as we applaud the successful establishment of disaster
management centres in the districts as well as at provincial level, we know
that a lot still needs to done to improve on our preparedness, vulnerability
assessment, response, mitigation, recovery, rehabilitation and post disaster
development. We agree that our responsibilities have been compounded by the
increased numbers of regional and international visitors coming to our shores
to be part of major upcoming events, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Many people are attracted by the beautiful, pristine environment that our
province boasts. Unfortunately, the scenic beautiful hills and valleys, on the
other hand, also contribute on our vulnerability as it becomes quite a
challenge to reach some of our communities during disasters.
We have challenges in the field of disaster management that are,
unfortunately, made worse by the peculiar environmental conditions. However, we
cannot lament the fact that we boast an environment that is a tourist magnet
simply because, at times, it lends itself to disasters.
Our challenge is coming up with innovative ideas, including tapping into
indigenous knowledge systems, on how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of
disasters.
Surely, our ancestors who have survived for a number of years in this region
have left behind a wealth of knowledge on how to deal with disasters. This
knowledge lies underutilised among many of our senior citizens. We need to
harness this expertise in order to deal with the challenges of today.
We have had our fair share of emergencies and disasters. We recall that, in
1987, this province experienced severe floods. At the time, the apartheid
government was running the show along the lines of âown affairs type of
disaster management programme.â The communities that were dealt the hardest
blow were in the townships and rural areas. These communities did not feature
in the disaster management plan of the time.
They were, indeed, a welfare case and received assistance from shopkeepers
and other private individuals.
Correcting the past
We definitely come from a history where access to disaster management
capacity was determined in terms of discriminatory policies. Exclusion from
risk assessment and prevention was part of the onslaught towards the erosion of
human dignity. In 1987, the reality on the ground was such that even cemeteries
were washed away in places such as KwaMashu and affected families were
traumatised. However, the civil protection legislation which operated in
accordance with town planning schemes did not make it possible for the
communities of KwaMashu, and other similarly excluded communities, to be part
of any disaster management institutional framework. We, therefore, had no
protocol that included such communities. All the assistance that they got was
informal.
Such was the cruelty that characterised our past that in instances where the
apartheid government decided to provide some assistance, the army came in, in
terms of civil protection legislation. Stories of the abuse of women and
children, by security forces, during times of strife and hardships continue to
be told today by those who were lucky to live to tell the story. We do not want
to dwell on the past. However, we must discuss the shortfalls and problems in
the management of disasters, before our democratically elected government came
into power, in order to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never
repeated.
Programme Director, I am pleased to note that amongst the delegates who
attended our 2006 Disaster Management Summit were officials who addressed the
summit on their experiences with Hurricane Katrina. I have learnt with interest
that one of the factors cited for the New Orleans disaster is unfavourable
positioning of the entire urban settlement. In our case, we have township
settlements that were established to accommodate labour tenants. The ability to
provide labour was the only qualification, and justification, for the
allocation of housing in the so-called R293 townships. These sprawling
townships were designed with an intention to control movement and to allow
security forces to come in and stop any activity deemed to be a threat to the
security of the state. For this reason, we do not have environmental impact
studies in respect of existing townships. We, therefore, have townships that
were built in flood plains. It is, therefore, understandable that flash floods,
which are common in this region, result in high numbers of fatalities.
We still have much to do in establishing and perfecting our disaster
management capabilities. It is pleasing to report that, since our democratic
government came into power, no human settlement has been established in a flood
plain. We are also pleased to note that environmental studies, indicating the
one in 50 years and the one in 100 years flood lines, have been used
effectively to guide key decision makers in the awarding of development
rights.
As government, we are committed to the protection of vulnerable groups. For
the purposes of this summit, vulnerable groups include those who were denied
access to disaster management capacity and those who were forced to settle in
environmentally vulnerable areas.
It is also pleasing to note that our esteemed Amakhosi are represented here
today. As Premier of the province, I also want to hear people discussing
indigenous methodologies and approaches to disaster management. We always take
pride in the diversity of cultures in our province. Today, we must all walk out
of here with some level of education on how the various cultures deal with
disasters. We must not expect disaster management to be the responsibility of
government alone.
We must all contribute towards the management of disasters. We need a
framework that provides us with a credible integration and coordination
protocol.
Mitigating disaster
This summit must also discuss lifestyle and behaviour. If we are serious
about our province, why do we have unnecessary human induced disasters and
incidents? The majority of the devastating veld fires in this province are
caused by people. A lot of money is spent on road signage that pleads with
people to put out their cigarettes properly.
Surely our seriousness, in terms of disaster consciousness and preparedness,
is lacking. While we may not be experiencing the same number of informal
settlement fires, as our sister province of the Western Cape, we, however, have
had our fair share of informal settlement fires. One notes, with sadness and
anger, that some of the informal settlement fires are a direct result of
domestic fights.
In a dense informal settlement, a lot of innocent people lose their lives
because some couple had a difference of opinion. In other cases, fires are
caused by people who prepare food and leave an open flame stove unattended.
There are also instances where people fall asleep without putting out candles
or fires.
The issue of behaviour induced by excessive alcohol intake is also a
problem. Our view, as the provincial government, is already known on this
subject. There is no justification for human suffering and the loss of human
life, as a result of human action induced by alcohol abuse.
Programme director, I have seen the programme line-up. I am impressed with
the focus of the workshop on integration and co-ordination. I have no doubt
that, after this workshop, the province of KwaZulu-Natal will develop an
appropriate provincial framework that ensures coordination in all our
activities. As leaders, we must use such platforms to influence attitude and
behaviour. It is my view that disaster management must remain topical
throughout the province. The purpose of my address today is to encourage you to
break the silos and commit yourself to efficient and effective teamwork and
co-ordination.
Disaster Management Centres of our local municipalities will be ineffective
if we cannot co-ordinate our collective efforts. My duty today is to encourage
integration in disaster management amongst the people of KwaZulu-Natal.
Disaster management planning cannot be the preserve of practitioners and
experts.
Legislation identifies key areas of focus in respect of disaster management.
In this regard, for the province of KwaZulu-Natal, we must put greater emphasis
on vulnerability assessment, disaster preparedness and recovery and
rehabilitation.
In our understanding of âvulnerabilityâ, we must include the requirements to
look after our environmentally sensitive heritage sites. We must broaden our
understanding to include factors beyond the day-to-day community
requirements.
There is no doubt that there is a direct relationship between our
infrastructure investment planning and management of disasters. We cannot
manage disasters, successfully, without incorporating disaster management
planning in our infrastructure development programmes. I have already mentioned
that our township development programme disregarded disaster management
requirements in the pre 1994 period.
During the term of our democratically elected government, we call for the
incorporation of disaster management consideration in the awarding of
development rights. As government, we expect to see greater co-operation among
government departments. For example, the environmentalists within the
Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs must be able to assist the
Department of Education in ensuring that classrooms are not built in flood
plains or other vulnerable areas.
Sustaining communities
Our response to disasters will always culminate in recovery and
rehabilitation. I will not go into the details of recovery and rehabilitation
because that is what the experts and the delegates will deliberate on today. My
interest, as Premier of the province, is that recovery and rehabilitation must
restore the functioning of communities after a disaster. For this to happen, we
must secure the participation of all stakeholders. At this point, I must
encourage you to examine the possible roles of all stakeholders in recovery and
rehabilitation.
We must also find out what it would take to restore normal farming
activities after a disaster. As we do this, we must realise that when a
disaster wipes out farming activities, affected families lose their jobs.
Recovery and rehabilitation, in this instance, goes beyond merely the
reconstruction of houses and bridges, but also covers the securing of
alternative employment for affected families.
How do we achieve this in a farming community where farming activities were
the only source of employment? This is just one example of the extent of
vulnerability, and the linkages between the management of disasters and our
broader provincial priorities such as economic development and poverty
alleviation.
As a province we have branded and positioned ourselves to cater for a
particular niche market. International conferences and international sporting
events feature prominently in our marketing strategy. However, our ability to
manage disasters in terms of legislation is critical to our success.
Programme director, with these few words, I thank you for the opportunity to
be part of this important conference. I wish all participants well.
Thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
5 March 2009
