Disaster Management Plan

INTRODUCTION

Disaster Management has its origin in civil defence which started during the Second World War when communities organised themselves to protect their properties and lives. After years of responses to disasters the Government promulgated the Disaster Management Act in 2002 with amendments in 2015 in order to put the emphasis on prevention rather than response.

When is it a disaster?  Disaster means a progressive or sudden, widespread or localised, natural or human-caused occurrence which causes or threatens to cause death, injury or disease, damage to property, infrastructure of the environment, or disruption of the life of a community and is of a magnitude that exceeds the ability of those affected by the disaster to cope with the effects using only their own resources. (Disaster Management Act)

In practice this means that when a municipality has reached the end of its own capacity or capability it may declare a local disaster. When a district then gets involved and more than one municipality is involved, a district disaster may be declared. If more than one district has reached its capacity, a provincial disaster may be declared.

The following basic terminology should also be taken note of:

• Hazard: means a dangerous phenomenon, substance, human activity or condition that may cause loss of life, injury or other health impacts, property damage, loss of livelihoods and services, social and economic disruption or environmental damage (UNISDR:2007)

• Vulnerability: means the degree to which an individual, household, community or an area may be adversely affected by a disaster (DMA 57:2002)

• Risk: means the likelihood of harmful consequences, including losses of lives, livelihoods and property, injuries, disruption of economic activities or environmental damages, arising from the combination of hazards with exposed and vulnerable people and assets (UNISDR:2009)

LEGISLATION

The main pieces of legislation which impacts on the Municipal IDP and this Disaster Management chapter are:

• The Disaster Management Act (2002)

• Municipal Systems Act (2000)

• Municipal Structures Act (1998)

• The Constitution of SA (1996)

From this legislation, especially the Disaster Management Act, subsequent policies were drawn up for the West Coast which then includes the Swartland Municipal area:

• The Disaster Management risk Assessment was done in April 2006, reviewed in 2012 and 2018.

• The West Coast Disaster Management Framework (June 2006 --- Updated in 2015). This framework forms the basis and gives guidance to the execution of the disaster management function in the Swartland.

Both the Municipal Systems Act and the Disaster Management Act requires the inclusion of a Disaster Management Plan into the IDP of the municipality. It would however not be practical to include the complete Disaster Management Plan with all its annexures. The complete plan is an annexure to this IDP.

It is our aim to include disaster management in the planning and execution stages of all IDP projects. This will ensure the integration of disaster management into the IDP and will ensure that all plans and projects are focused on contributing to disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness –thus reducing the impact of disasters on lives, property, community activities, the economy and the environment in the Swartland Municipality.

Swartland has its own Disaster Management Plan linked to that of the West Coast District Plan. This plan is reviewed annually. From the Disaster Management Plan, line functions can draw their own plans and standard operating procedures.

INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

The National/Provincial and District Disaster Management Frameworks give direction to municipalities to establish the necessary institutional arrangements and corporate disaster management structure. Disaster management capacity is still a big challenge to the Swartland as the Chief Fire Officer coordinates disaster management.

Although the Protection Services Department is assigned with the Disaster Management function and should direct and facilitate the disaster risk management process, it cannot perform the whole spectrum of disaster risk management activities on its own. Disaster risk management is everybody’s business. Therefore it is required that each municipal department assigns a person or section within the department to be the nodal point for disaster management activities in that department. The same applies to National and Provincial departments operating within the municipality.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT ADVISORY FORUM (DMAF)

A DMAF was established and meet twice a year or when required. Disaster management is also a standing item on the Top Management meeting of the Municipal Manager. Top management therefore have the opportunity to discuss any disaster management issues at this monthly meeting.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRE

The West Coast Disaster Management Centre opened in September 2008. The building is located within the Swartland Municipal Area (in Moorreesburg). It provides a 24 hour call taking and dispatch facility. This facility is used as a Joint Operation Centre (JOC) during disasters, but also as a venue for planning sessions outside disaster periods. A tactical facility is available as well as offices for various emergency services. The aim is ultimately to make it a one stop centre for all incident reporting. This Centre is a big advantage to the Swartland Municipality as it is too costly for Swartland to have its own Disaster Management Centre.

SWARTLAND:  CORPORATE DISASTER MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

RISK ASSESSMENT

The West Coast disaster management risk assessment was done in April 2006 and reviewed in 2012. This assessment indicated the total risks for the West Coast but also specific risks that were present in each local municipality. The complete documents is available on www.westcoastdm.co.za

The following disaster risks for the Swartland Municipal area were identified during this assessment process and these risks require preparedness plans:

• Fire

• Drought/water scarcity

• Floods(Severe Weather)

• Road accidents

• Wind

• HIV/Aids

• TB

The SANS 31010 suggests that a risk assessment should be done every three years.  A new risk assessment was done in 2018 with the following top risks identified:

• Drought

• Alien invasive species

• Water supply disruption

• Floods

• Seismic activity

• Wildfires

• Animal diseases

• Land Invasion”

• Protest Actions

During March 2020 the world (and South Africa) came to know the Corona Virus which had a devastating effect on the health of people. In February 2023 the President declared a National state of disaster over load shedding , President Ramaphosa words “ it will enable us to provide practical measures that we need to take to support businesses in the food production, storage and retail supply chain, including for the rollout of generators, solar panels and uninterrupted power supply,”

RISK REDUCTION

Risk reduction plans for the Swartland Municipality can be perused in the Core Disaster Management Plan. Risk reduction measures are included in the budgeted projects that are funded in the Swartland Municipal operating and capital budgets. Where there are other measures that fall outside the mandate of the municipality, the municipality will lobby and motivate the need for the project in the correct government or societal sector.

The total structure of the Municipality, with every member of staff and every resource, will be committed to disaster risk reduction. Ongoing capacity building programs will be required to ensure the availability of adequate capacity for risk reduction.

Fires: 

• Awareness campaigns in high risk areas

• Alien vegetation clearing

• Creating and maintaining fire breaks

• Fire hydrant maintenance plan

Floods:

• Clearing /cleaning rivers and riverbanks (debris, alien invasive plants, excessive reeds, etc.)

• Maintenance of culverts

• Storm water systems maintenance

• Determining and updating of flood lines (important for development planning)

• River and catchment management

• Engineering parameters

Drought/Water scarcity:

• Bulk water capacity and resources to always be considered in development planning

• Awareness campaigns for demand reduction/conservation

• General usage of water-saving devices

• Effective management strategies and equipment /infrastructure in place for water resource management

Covid-19:

• Slowing the spread

• Testing and treatment

• Quarantine and Isolation

• Civil compliance

• Humanitarian relief and food security

• Economic recovery

• Communication

Load shedding:

• Procure emergency standby power supplies (Generators) for Critical Customer interfacing offices

• Negotiated exclusion (12 months) of Swartland Water Treatment works from the load shedding schedule.

• Procuring additional generators to provide standby power to water and sewage pump stations

• Revised budget for emergency fuel for generators and fleet vehicles

• Visible law enforcement during load shedding to prevent theft

• Awareness campaign/hotline to prevent theft of infrastructure

• Allowing customers that meet the requirements to cone t Small Scale Embedded Generators (SSEG) to the municipal Network and to export energy into the network.

• Approach Eskom to consider participation in the Load Curtailment Programme (where possible and within the rules)

• Issue an RFP for the connection of renewable IPP to the municipal grid to provide and additional source of energy to reduce the cost of electricity and to support the grid when the Eskom supply is available. 

SWARTLAND CORPORATE DISASTER MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

RECOVERY AND REHABILITATION

Recovery and rehabilitation teams will be convened to manage recovery and rehabilitation after disasters/ major incidents, mostly on a project management basis. Municipal departments responsible for the maintenance of specific infrastructure are also responsible for the repair or replacement of such infrastructure after disasters.

FUNDING

The success and implementation of all the above planning is dependent on adequate funding and the identification of the sources of funding. Funding to reduce risks, to prepare for and respond to disasters should be made available.

The figure below indicate how the disaster management plan fits into the IDP