Recent catastrophic flooding across South Africa has brought the issue of disaster management to the forefront.

AfriForum said it long warned against the poor maintenance of stormwater drainage systems in towns and surrounding areas, the importance of risk assessment in preparation for floods and municipalities’ negligence in securing vulnerable areas on time against floods and heavy rain.

However, this came down to having an effective disaster management plan, emphasises AfriForum.

AfriForum disaster management specialist Tarien Cooks said the inability of municipalities to effectively implement disaster management was once again strongly highlighted in the past week’s heavy rain in the north of the country where numerous roads were washed away and people were trapped or had to be rescued – all while local authorities remain slow, disorganised and often completely inactive.

Several homes and businesses between Isipingo and Winklespruit were flooded on Thursday following heavy downpours. Prospecton and Amanzimtoti CBD also experienced severe flooding. | Leon Lestrade/Independent Newspapers

Parts of Gauteng, North West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State were underwater this week.

Cooks said most municipal disaster management offices in the country are out of order. They either do not have the resources to assist on scenes, they do not know how to assist or there is no disaster management plan.

“A municipality without a disaster management plan is like a ship without a rudder – when the storm comes, chaos is inevitable. Municipalities’ inability to mitigate and manage disasters is not just negligence but a direct threat to communities’ safety and survival,” Cooks said.

“It is crucial that communities help each other and stand together in times of need rather than waiting for an invisible and unreliable government.”

According to AfriForum, disaster management legislation allows municipal disaster management departments to use volunteers during disasters. Most municipalities, however, do not have any volunteers, even though volunteers are usually residents trained in various fields, including first aid, firefighting and search and rescue. The more people who know how to respond during a disaster, the easier it is for a community to be resilient.

Several homes and businesses between Isipingo and Winklespruit were flooded on Thursday following heavy downpours. Prospecton and Amanzimtoti CBD also experienced severe flooding. | Leon Lestrade/Independent Newspapers

DA KZN spokesperson on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Marlaine Nair said heavy rains are becoming more severe and frequent and the Cogta department has been responsive.

“However, what we want to see is a department that is proactive with a high-level system in place to deal with disasters,” Nair said.

A delegation travelled abroad last year for a Climate Change Summit.

Nair explained that at their Cogta portfolio committee meeting in December, where the report was tabled, they requested more detail on how they will implement what was learnt here in KZN. They also requested the department come back to them with details concerning the budget spent on Disaster Management and progress in terms of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the SA National Roads Agency SOC Ltd and the eThekwini Municipality so roads can be monitored.

Roads were flooded following heavy downpours in Durban. | Sibonelo Ngcobo/Independent Newspapers

“I emphasised to the department that we don’t just want to hear what they learnt at this conference but how we can implement best practices in our province,” Nair said.

“We are still awaiting an update in regard to this.”

Nair said municipalities also play a pivotal role in disaster management. Poor maintenance of roads and drainage systems and allowing people to build on flood plains both contribute to increased flooding.

“Disaster Management in KZN requires a collective effort and co-operation from all municipalities, Cogta, residents and stakeholders. There also needs to be a sense of urgency with Disaster Management made a priority,” Nair said.

Responding to questions National Cogta spokesperson Legadima Leso said: “Our reports from the respective provinces indicate something different. There are structures and plans across the districts and metros. Perhaps the issue could be whether we have enough capacity. This varies from municipality to municipality.”

Several homes and businesses between Isipingo and Winklespruit were flooded on Thursday following heavy downpours. Prospecton and Amanzimtoti CBD also experienced severe flooding. | Leon Lestrade/Independent Newspapers

Meanwhile, this week the City of Tshwane said the Bronkhorstspruit Water Treatment Plant was temporarily offline due to deteriorated raw water quality characterised by cloudiness, caused by recent heavy rainfall. The plant’s operations were expected to resume when water quality improves.

The Rietvlei Nature Reserve was closed from Wednesday due to flooding from persistent rainfall. Roads were not drivable and most bridges were flooded.

The City of Tshwane also said continuous rainfall caused delays in power restoration as technicians were overwhelmed by the number of outages.

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za