Inter-governmental Committee on Disaster Management
Section 4(1)
Section 4(1)(c) confirms the representation (political) of SALGA in the highest national structure for disaster management whereas the Inter-governmental Committee must advise Cabinet and the Minister of Provincial and Local

Government on issues concerning disaster management

Section 7(1)(d) provides for the functional participation of SALGA in the National Disaster Management Advisory Forum.

The Technical Task Team is satisfied that sections 4(1)(c) and 7(1)(d) of the Bill is consistent with and supportive of sections 151, 152, 153, 154, 155 and 156 of the Constitution and allows for full participation of SALGA in disaster management issues at national level.

Municipal policy framework
Section 37
Section 37 (requiring Category A & C municipalities to establish and implement disaster management policies) is fully supported by the Technical Task Team and this proposed requirement is consistent with the resolution taken by SALGA at its Third Annual General Congress held in Port Elizabeth 15 – 17 July 1999, that disaster management should be executed by metropolitan and district municipalities.

It is the firm belief of the Technical Task Team, as echoed at the Annual General Congress referred to above, that metropolitan and district municipalities should have the capacity to render effective and coordinated disaster management within the local sphere of government. By entrusting disaster management to metropolitan and district municipalities the required equitable standard of disaster management could be achieved. Should local municipalities (Category B municipalities) be responsible for the execution thereof the objective to establish and implement an integrated and coordinated approach could be defeated.

Section 37 of the Bill must be read with section 44(2)(a) of the Bill, section 84(1)(a) of the Local Government; Municipal Structures Act, 1998 requiring district municipalities to execute integrated development planning and section 26(g) of the Local Government; Municipal Systems Act, 2000 defining ‘applicable disaster management plans’ as a core component of the IDP.

Municipal disaster management centres
Section 38
The establishment of disaster management centres is a prerequisite for the effective and efficient performance of the disaster management function as without such infrastructure and expertise the expected levels of effectiveness will not be achieved.

General comment
The Technical Task Team fully supports the intention of the Bill to expect of each sphere of government to fulfil its responsibilities and that disaster management centres with applicable expertise specialising in disaster management issues, must also be established at national and provincial levels of government. In the past it was only expected of local government to establish specific resources in order to deal with disaster events.

Functions and powers
Section 39
The functions and powers of the municipal disaster management centres as described in section 39 of the Bill are fully supported by the Technical Task Team.

Head of disaster management centre
Section 40
The proposed appointment of a functional head for the disaster management centre is fully supported by the Technical Task Team. This requirement should ensure that disaster management would not once again become a hidden responsibility functionally accommodated within a municipal department.

The appointment of a ‘head of the disaster management centre’ at national, provincial and local government will further ensure the necessary functional day-to-day liaison between the three spheres of government.

Section 44
The requirements contained in section 44 of the Bill is supported whereas it is consistent with section 26(g) of the Municipal Systems Act, 2000 and also confirms the emphasis placed on prevention and mitigation without detracting anything from the importance of effective response and relief.

Section 44A provides clear indication of what elements should be contained in the required disaster management plans and as such will assist local government in compiling and maintaining such plans.

Responsibilities in event of local disasters
Section 44B
The responsibilities described in this section of the proposed legislation are of specific significance for local government in general whereas it confirms the responsibility of metropolitan and district municipalities to ‘deal’ with a local disaster.

Section 45
Section 45 gives further loco standi to the role and responsibilities of metropolitan and district municipalities in dealing with local disasters – something local government as third tier of government did not have in the pre-1994 dispensation. Section 44B read with section 45 confirms the fact that local government is indeed a sphere and not a tier of government in concurrence with the Constitution.

CONCERNS
From a macro and focus point of view the Bill is fully supported by the Technical Task Team whereas it is of the opinion that the Bill could be a major step towards improving the general quality of life of the residents of South Africa. The emphasis, however, is on the word COULD whereas the following concerns have been expressed by the Technical Task Team –

Lack of capacity, knowledge and skills
South Africa does not have the trained disaster management expertise to staff all the proposed provincial and local disaster management centres. It is proposed that SALGA encourages metropolitan and district municipalities to have applicable employees subscribed to the disaster management training programme currently being conducted at Technikon SA in association with the Wisconsin University (US) and the University of Cranfield (UK). This training programme was initiated by the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa and therefore enjoys the partnership support of the Institute.

The Bill requires the proposed disaster management centres to ‘specialise’ in disaster management issues. Without the required knowledge and skills the objectives of the Bill will not be met.

The Technical Task Team recommends that –
SALGA take a keen interest in the training of appropriately skilled staff members of local government as well as the building of capacity amongst its political leadership to understand the dynamics of disaster management.

1. SALGA lends its support to the disaster management training programme being conducted by Technikon SA in association with the Wisconsin University (US) and the University of Cranfield (UK)

Lack of funding
The reference to post-disaster financial assistance only to local government in the Bill is cause of major concern to the Technical Task Team. As indicated above a concerted effort shall have to be made to train local government personnel in matters related to the responsibilities indicated in the Bill. The Bill however, does not address the requirement to fund such capacity building.

Likewise the Bill requires local government to establish disaster management centres within metropolitan and district municipalities but does not address the establishment and operational funding of such infrastructure. Without financial support from national and provincial government it is highly unlikely that, especially district municipalities, will find the funding to establish the required disaster management centres.

It is also imperative that the Department of Finance be sensitised by the Department of Provincial and Local Government with regard to the performing of disaster management by metropolitan and district municipalities in accordance with the requirements of the proposed legislation. The Technical Task Team is aware of numerous cases where district municipalities in accordance with the White Paper on Disaster Management, the resolution of SALGA at its 1999 Congress and the anticipated legislation as contained in the Bill, pro-actively went ahead with the building of disaster management capacity only to be told by the Department of Finance that it (district municipalities) has no mandate to perform such functions and there budgetary expenditure cannot be approved. This reaction by the Department of Finance, in many cases put the brakes on the development of applicable disaster management capacity within district municipalities.

The Technical Task Team recommends that
The national and provincial government to provide post-disaster financial support to local government, in accordance with the contents of the Bill

1. The national government provides establishment cost subsidies to district municipalities with the view to establish disaster management centres and to have personnel properly trained
2. The establishment subsidies be allocated to district municipalities by means of dedicated equitable share allocations following the submission of business plans by district municipalities whereas establishment subsidies shall only be allocated for the purposes of infrastructural (buildings and equipment) development and training
3. The national government provides operational cost subsidies to district municipalities with the view to support operational expenditure such as personnel costs for a minimum period of 5 years after which period subsidies could be lowered in accordance with the financial position of the district municipality; the proposed subsidy be financed by means of dedicated equitable share allocations to district municipalities

FRAGMENTATION OF EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION
The Technical Task Team finds it strange, that the Department of Communications has been awarded responsibility for the administering of the National Emergency Telephone Service Act, 1993, whereas such 107-services acts as conduit and repository for information, critical to effective disaster management. It appears as if (a) a vital mechanism as contemplated in Section 17 of the Bill, could somehow be missed or (b) that gross duplication shall be resulted. The Technical Task Team is firmly of the opinion that the responsibility for the administering of the National Emergency Telephone Service Act, 1993, should be entrusted to the Department of Provincial and Local Government with the view to maximise the application of technology in order to ensure effective and affordable disaster management. It is also strange that at all the workshops held aimed at the discussing of the current legislation applicable to the ‘107-function’, the direct functional relationship between such function and disaster management, has been emphasised.

The Technical Task Team in concurrence with a resolution taken by the 1999 SALGA-Congress held in Port Elizabeth, remains firmly of the opinion that metropolitan and district municipalities should be responsible for emergency communication as contemplated in the National Emergency Telephone Service Act, 1993 and that such infrastructure could form the backbone to the establishment and maintaining of disaster management centres.

Local government cannot afford the duplication of services.

CONCLUSION SUMMARY
The Bill contains the collective elements of some of the best disaster management legislation in the world today and as such should set a new trend in disaster management in especially the developing world. In particular the responsibilities of national, provincial and local government contained in the Bill is commendable whereas each sphere of government will be required to fulfil its responsibilities.

The Technical Task Team however, remains extremely concerned about the ability of local government, and the district municipalities in particular, to make financial ends meet. Should the lack of financial capacity of district municipalities not be addressed it is doubtful whether the commendable objectives of the Bill will be met.