How the disaster declaration supports local municipalities

The KZN floods have been a devastating reminder that disaster planning and management is the business of everyone in a municipality (Credit: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government)

The National State of Disaster declared by government following the floods in KwaZulu-Natal is an opportunity for disaster management officials to leverage all levels of the state’s emergency capacity. There is also an important contribution to be made by the private sector in supporting government efforts by providing engineering, environmental and disaster risk reduction expertise.

By Andries Fourie & Martin Stols

The scale of the recent KwaZuluNatal (KZN) floods and their consequences led to the announcement of a National – rather than municipal or provincial – State of Disaster in terms of Section 27 of the Disaster Management Act (No. 57 of 2002). For those municipalities affected, the declaration gives them access to not only local resources and contingencies, but to assistance from provincial and national departments.

Local municipalities are supposed to have a Disaster Management Fund, but where this is insufficient – as is now clearly the case due to the scale and extent – they can draw resources from national and even international sources. This gives access to services that are often quite specialised, such as search-and-rescue teams.

In this instance, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was deployed – and was expected to bring in expertise to assist with the immediate disaster response and recovery. There should even be capacity in the SANDF to build temporary bridges where structures have been washed away to ensure communities have physical access to services and markets. Opening up international channels of support could also contribute food assistance where the disaster has placed local food security at risk.

Rapid response

A central concern in all disaster response plans is to return the affected areas and people to some form of normality as quickly as possible. There are particular issues that need rapid and effective responses, such as the provision of water and sanitation services. This is to avoid the potential knock-on effects of secondary impacts – like waterborne diseases – which prolong the recovery period. This makes close collaboration a vital element of success in any municipality’s disaster response.

While the disaster management team at municipal level is expected to play an important coordinating role, it obviously does not actually repair roads, electricity cables or water pipes. It relies on the various operational units to fulfil these tasks – which are made more difficult by the disaster conditions.

It should also be remembered that a disaster declaration comes with certain time-related constraints. Funds made available for the immediate phase following a disaster need to be spent within 60 days. This is separate from the longer-term recovery grant, which can be utilised over a longer period.

Mobilising funds

Being an emergency situation, a quick response is invariably going to be more effective than a delayed one, provided that the action is appropriate and well planned. However, it is often difficult to mobilise funding rapidly if the processes in place are too onerous or bureaucratic.

For instance, a normal tender process with its necessary checks and balances may take too long in the case of an emergency. At the same time, government is committed to ensuring that all public spending is responsible and achieves value-for-money results.

The context in which the KZN flood disaster has occurred is one where municipal resources are already stretched. In many areas, basic services were under strain even before the floods occurred. This of course makes it even more difficult for the disaster management response to be quickly and effectively mobilised. There is, however, a valuable pool of relevant experience and specialised knowledge among private sector consulting engineers and scientists municipalities can draw on for support.

By planning in advance with the most appropriate experts, the disaster response can be rolled out more quickly. One government department has already been exploring the modalities of standing agreements with relevant experts, so that the appropriate skills can be mobilised through an emergency procurement process. The guidelines would provide for a panel of experts representing a range of well-respected players, which the department can draw on at short notice. This approach is very useful in addressing disaster situations, where it is clear that in-house resources will not be sufficient to meet the sudden need.

The aftermath of the storm caused major disruptions to transportation services (Credit: Steve McCurrach of www.airserv.co.za)

Monitoring

At the same time, state expenditure in a time of disaster must still be closely monitored in terms of its impact. Already, government makes extensive use of consulting engineers and scientists to ensure that disasterrelated funding is well spent. For instance, municipalities and other levels of government often assign specialised professionals from consulting firms to help assess damage – and to estimate the reasonable cost of repair or rebuilding. Qualified professionals also help government to track the expenditure once a project is awarded.

This is important in making sure that spending is in line with general policies and the specific demands of the contract. The monitoring also ensures that the average citizen can once again receive vital services from rebuilt clinics, schools, hospitals and other public institutions. It is possible for government to make even greater use of the data on how disasters are managed and infrastructure is rebuilt.

In its efforts to make public expenditure more transparent, government could find ways of publicising where the spending is taking place and on what aspects of disaster recovery. The country has seen the value of this kind of process during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data on infections and vaccinations are published daily and help build public confidence and interest in government initiatives.

Sharing data with the public

Technology today is well suited to creating useful dashboards for information, for example, where data on the impact of a disaster can be represented. In the same way, the details of how the crisis is being addressed can also be tracked. The public is certainly very concerned about how these activities are proceeding, and such communication could help support a constructive national response.

There is another good reason why quality professional advice adds value after a disaster: by learning from the damage caused by floods on public infrastructure like roads or bridges, the rebuilding process can create even better structures than before. This process of design adaptation can ensure than infrastructure investment goes further – producing structures that are more resilient to the demands of the future, and trends such as climate change.

The KZN floods have been a devastating reminder that disaster planning and management is really the business of everyone in a municipality. It is not just the disaster management teams but all departments that should play an active part in disaster risk assessment and disaster management planning. This direct involvement will ensure that everyone’s views are considered in the assessment, and their future contribution is included in the plan. Only in this way will all functional units of a municipality be prepared for a disaster when it occurs.