EDITORIAL | Municipalities often the weak link in disaster risk management

The currentextreme weatherwill no doubt once again expose our government’s inability to speedily and effectively prepare for or deal with its consequences. The cut-off low has brought with it damaging winds, storms and flooding across parts of the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and elsewhere. The SA Weather Service gave everyone detailed notice of where the effect of thesevere weather conditionswould most likely be experienced.

On Monday it upgraded its warning to an orange level six for heavy downpours and flooding along the Eastern Cape coast and adjacent interior. It also warned of damaging winds. There is also nothing wrong with the province’s “paper preparedness”.

The Disaster Management Act: Eastern Cape Provincial Disaster Risk Management Policy Framework clearly sets out roles for “prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery” across departments and municipalities. It is, in theory at least, an excellent blueprint for co-ordinated action for readiness and disaster management when severe weather alerts are issued. But the reality is all too often not up to scratch across most of the country.

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Who can forget the April 2022 KwaZulu-Natal flood disaster which claimed hundreds of lives and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and, ultimately, the economy? Or the June 2025 Mthatha floods in which more than 100 people lost their lives and thousands were displaced? Both those disasters, which had been predicted days in advance, showed up several gaps in the disaster management process including preparedness, response and mitigation.

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