On Tuesday the world commemorates the United Nations International Day for Disaster Reduction. Quick and efficient response to events has been identified as a key factor when disaster strikes.
The Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional affairs, Pravin Gordhan marked the day in the Chris Hani district of the Eastern Cape, a region prone to natural disasters.
The event looked at different types of disasters, including man-made and natural disasters, and how some of these can be prevented.
Each year more than 500 000 South Africans are affected by natural and human induced disasters. Gordhan says there is a backlog of incidents that have not been addressed within the department as well as unspent money that has not been identified to address these problems.
Gordhan says they will implement risk assessments and also promote maintenance of critical infrastructure within the strategies put in place to deal with disaster reduction.
“National officials will be here within the next two weeks to formulate an integrated plan where provincial departments, municipal capabilities and departments and national workforce will work together to understand the current environment, to understand the risks, to do the necessary planning and make sure that we are organised enough to actually respond. The focus here really is about the partners between the authority and the community. Secondly particularly through the municipalities making communities aware of how disasters happen, what are the signs and what they need to do or not do,” says Gordhan.
Head of national disaster Ken Terry says maintaining infrastructure is also seen as key factor in ensuring the safety of people when disaster strikes. For the full article click here
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