Debate on disaster management readiness - 17 October 2013

So far this year 90 people already died due to fires in the City of Cape Town alone. It would be insensitive to broadly claim the province is ready to manage such predictable disasters where around a hundred people die per season. What do we say to the victims' grieving family we do to prevent and reduce this human tragedy?

Annually a number of devastating fires break out in the informal settlements. Fatal injuries are inflicted. Large numbers of poor lose all they have.

The first priority of disaster management must be to protect people who are most at risk. After that follows critical resources and systems on which communities depend. Disasters often recur because prevention failed or is absent.

Effective disaster management planning requires careful identification of priority risks and the most vulnerable areas, communities and households.

Many people in the province live in conditions of chronic human induced disaster vulnerability. It threatens basic services to poor urban and rural communities. They live in underserviced and marginal areas where they suffer recurrent threats that range from floods to facing repeat informal settlement fires and this winter we saw a number die of exposure.

People are told they have to fend for themselves. They must keep food and water for three days ready as it may take that long before they get help!

Many families in poor communities across the province have to settle for no, or inadequate services. Areas lack service roads, electricity, sanitation and other basic lifesaving developments such as taps that are few and far between.

The DA Cape Town Council gives the biggest share of its resources to benefit a few, leaving 66% of the population struggling in varying degrees of abject poverty.

Every year the same misery visit shack dwellers - floods, fires and disease outbreaks with no lasting solution. This is a direct result of the political decisions taken at the city.

If the DA provincial and local governments were really committed to delivering services and homes to the poor, these tragedies could have been avoided.

In informal settlements response times from the nearest fire stations are long and we see fire engines running out of water and nowhere nearby to refill. Many fire services are poorly staffed and equipped - While shack fires are often misused by the city to force people into transit camps.

Fire stations can no longer be predominantly in formal areas but more must be placed and fully resources in informal areas and communities. People in the highest risk areas must be targeted.

The provincial disaster management centre must promote an integrated and co-ordinated approach to disaster management with special emphasis on prevention and mitigation.

Just in this week of international disaster reduction our national government called for consideration of people with disabilities. I wish to add the elderly, infirm and frail as too often these vulnerable groups are severely afflicted.

Yes, at the provincial Disaster Management Centre (DMC) one sees lots of expensive technology, but at the same time you see the DA in the City not putting adequate funding in place as there is a lack of a basic electronic communication management system linking the city with the provincial and national disaster management centres. This is a serious concern for efficient and effective operations - especially in a crisis.

This centre is thus neither fully functional nor ready for eventualities.

Further, we find DA Premier Zille and her team misuse the DMC as their own private information centre, like during the farmworker dispute over poor living conditions and salaries on farms. The worker's movements where plotted informing the tweets by the Premier. Stop playing and abusing the disaster resources for narrow DA party purposes!

We see the absence of disaster management volunteers and the province playing no role in promoting the recruitment training and participation of volunteers in disaster management.

It is then clear to understand why the MEC is not submitting as compelled by the Disaster Management Act, an annual report on the activities, results or effect of the Provincial disaster management centre to this legislature.

This lack of leadership is also reflected in the fact that the province gives little if any guidance to municipalities. They are mostly on their own.

It is dishonest for the DA to pretend this province is ready to prevent, mitigate and then really deal with frequent or recurring disasters.

PARLIAMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF THE WESTERN CAPE

FRIDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2013

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY

1   Mr P Uys to ask Mr A W Bredell, Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning: 

How many fires were there in each of the (a) informal settlements and (b) other areas, in each of the municipalities in the Western Cape in the past two years and how many people died in each of these areas, or were injured, directly or indirectly, because of the fires?

REPLY:

(a) All available information as supplied by the Municipal Fire Brigade Services for reported fires in the informal settlements is summarised in the table below.

The issue of fires in the informal settlements has various layers of complexity which have to be understood before any assumptions can be drawn from merely looking at figures. Various studies confirm the fact that fire is only one manifestation of the problem. Alcohol, substance abuse and violence, both domestic and otherwise, coupled to various other socio economic issues all contribute to these fires.

Extensive studies by Governmental-, Non-Governmental and Academic institutions are freely available as confirmation of this. 

Table 1: Fires affecting informal settlements as reported by Fire Brigade Services during 2011/12 and 2012/13. 

*Fire Brigade Services are generally not responsible for the treatment of burn victims and therefore do not report on those.

 (b) All available information as supplied by the Municipal Fire Brigade Services for reported fires in the other areas is summarised in the table below:

Table 2: Fires affecting other areas as reported by Fire Brigade Services during 2011/12 and 2012/13. 

*Fire Brigade Services are generally not responsible for the treatment of burn victims and therefore do not report on those.

Statement issued by Pierre Uys, ANC Chief Whip in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature, October 23 2013

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