Welcome and opening remarks by Mr Andries Nel, MP, Deputy Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs at the commemoration of International Day for Disaster Reduction 2016 at Birchwood Convention Centre, Ekurhuleni
Programme Director;
Honourable Minister: Mr Des Van Rooyen (MP);
The Chairperson of National House of Traditional Leaders: Kgosi Maubane;
Honourable Councillors;
Acting Director-General;
Director of Disaster Risk Reduction Units and accompanying officials;
Member states from SADC;
Delegates representing other United Nations Agencies;
Delegates representing our International Cooperating Partners;
Delegates representing Non-Governmental Organisations;
Head of Disaster Management Centres; and
Delegates from different sectors.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the commemoration of the 2016 International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR). The theme for the 2016 commemoration is “Reducing disaster mortalities."
This gives us an opportunity to reflect on our experiences as we strive collaboratively increase our resilience to withstand current and future disasters.
Judith Rodin, in her excellent book, The Resilience Dividend, defines resilience as, "the capacity of any entity - an individual, a community, an organisation, or a natural system - to prepare for disruptions, to recover from shocks and stresses, and to adapt and grow from a disruptive experience."
She points out that we live in a world that is defined by disruption and that, whilst the world has always known disruption, there are three disruptive phenomena that are distinctly modern: urbanisation, climate change and globalisation.
She argues that to be resilient is to be aware, adaptive, diverse, integrated, and self-regulating.
Being aware means having knowledge of our strengths and assets, liabilities and risks. It includes situational awareness: the ability and willingness to constantly assess, take in new information, and adjust understanding in real time.
Being diverse means that we have different sources of capacity so that we can successfully operate even when elements of that capacity are challenged there are redundant elements or assets.
Being integrated means that we have coordination of functions across systems including the ability to bring together disparate ideas and elements, work collaboratively, develop cohesive solutions and coordinate actions.
Being self-regulating means that we can regulate ourselves in ways that enable us to deal with anomalous situations and disruptions without extreme malfunction or catastrophic collapse.
Being adaptive means having the capacity to adjust to changing circumstances by developing new plans, taking new actions or modifying behaviours and having the ability to apply existing resources to new purposes or for one element to take on multiple roles.
The International Day for Disaster Reduction is a day to celebrate how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of disaster risk reduction.
It is also a day to encourage every citizen and government to take part in building more disaster resilient communities and nations.
Our country has certainly made strides in achieving the objectives of commemorating this important day and can certainly be improved by committing to implementing measures and interventions that are aimed at reducing disaster risk as a concern for poverty reduction and sustainable development.
In commemorating this day we are part of the Sendai Seven Campaign that the UNISDR launched to promote each of the seven targets of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction adopted in Sendai, Japan in March 2015.
The Sendai Seven Campaign is an opportunity for all, including all spheres of government, community groups, civil society organisations, the private sector, international organisations and the UN family, to promote best practices at an international, regional, national and the local level across all sectors, to reduce disaster risk and disaster losses.
Our country is not immune to the increasing magnitude and frequencies of hazards and disasters of natural or human induced origin. One factor that I would like to highlight is the risk posed by very rapid unmanaged urbanisation.
South Africa is urbanising very rapidly. Already 63 percent of South Africans live in urban areas. This is project to reach 71 percent by 2030 and by 2050 eight out of ten people in South Africa will live in an urban area.
If we manage urbanisation well, strengthen the linkages between urban and rural areas, and reverse apartheid spatial patterns it has the potential increase economic growth, prosperity and social cohesion.
However, as more and more people and assets are concentrated in cities, an increasingly complex array of shocks and stresses can influence resilience, negatively or positively.
The factors that influence a city’s resilience include the range and severity of hazards; the risk to lives and property; the vulnerability and exposure of human, social, and environmental systems; and the degree of preparedness of both physical and governance systems to any shock or stress.
Cities are increasingly expected to take concrete actions to adapt to risks associated with rising sea levels, floods, droughts and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by climate change and climate variability.
Reducing the risk of disasters helps to protect development investments and enables societies to accumulate wealth, in spite of hazards.
South Africa has a well-developed legislative framework to guide and support disaster risk reduction. For example, the Disaster Management Act (No 57 of 2002) and the National Disaster Management Framework (2005) promote a holistic response aimed at reducing the likelihood of disasters and better managing disasters that do occur.
The National Climate Change Response White Paper (2011) outlines government’s vision for building resilience to climate change and promotes the mainstreaming of climate change considerations and responses into all relevant sector-planning instruments. Other sector legislation and policies also support disaster risk reduction.
However, despite progress made, several challenges continue to undermine the implementation of the legislative frameworks:
(1) Capacity shortages;
(2) Inadequate institutional placement of the disaster management function in provincial departments and municipalities (where it is sometimes viewed as a line function, instead of a cross-sectoral coordinating function);
(3) Inadequate funding for proactive risk-reduction planning and activities;
(4) Insuffcient progress in integrating disaster risk reduction into the day-to-day operations and planning of organs of state; and
(5) Limited technical expertise and capacity to promote integration, particularly at the local government level.
Building urban resilience and ensuring sustainable development require a close interface and integration of urban governance, climate and risk-sensitive development planning, as well as coherent systems, services and resources A whole-of-government and all-of-society approach needs to emphasise the linkages between mitigation and adaptation, as well as the multiple economic, social and environmental co-benefits of urban climate action.
For this reason resilience has been elevated as one of the three cross-cutting priorities in South Africa's Integrated Urban Development Framework adopted by Cabinet in April 2016.
Now, in our efforts to reduce disaster risk, we ought to acknowledge the prevalent drought that has seen seven provinces as well as two municipalities, respectively declare provincial and local states of disasters.
SADC has also made a Regional Appeal as a result of drought and declared a regional state of disaster, with several countries being affected.
It would appear that the drought is still persisting and its impact severely felt by our most vulnerable communities; including, farmers.
Our water sources are extremely strained with some water services compelled to ration supply to its users. It is our collective responsibility to use water wisely while we work on ways to mitigate the effects of the drought.
We appreciate and applaud the private sector and our civil society who collectively took the initiative to support and complement government’s strength in responding to the immediate needs of our communities, as a result of the drought.
With these words, you are welcome to the 2016 International Day for Disaster Reduction.
In the words of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR): “Risk Reduction Begins with INFORMATION & AWARENESS. Information & Awareness are the first steps towards ACTION. Awareness then triggers INTEREST. Interest will then lead to ATTENTION. Attention will prompt positive ACTION”
Let’s live to tell, create awareness to reduce disaster mortality in South Africa.
I thank you for your attention.
