As severe weather events become the norm over parts of South Africa and the world, the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) has called for an urgent transformation of the country’s disaster management system.

The appeal comes in the wake of devastating floods and mudslides that have claimed at least 29 lives and displaced hundreds in KwaZulu-Natal and other affected regions.

The South African Weather Service has also issued another Level 6 warning for heavy rain for Friday, 14 March.

In April 2022, KwaZulu-Natal was struck by one of the worst storms in South Africa’s history, claiming the lives of over 300 people.

While topography and poor infrastructure add to the devastation when landslides occur in this province, the intensifying frequency of natural disasters has raised alarm among disaster management experts.

Last year’s winter flooding in the Western Cape affected over 100,000 people.

Floods, wildfires, hailstorms, droughts, and tornadoes, once considered isolated incidents, have become recurring crises, which SALGA says underlines the urgent need for a proactive and well-coordinated response system.

SALGA warns that municipalities across the country, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal, North-West, Mpumalanga, and the Free State, are struggling to cope with these climate-related disasters due to systemic weaknesses.

The association has identified key deficiencies in the current disaster management framework, including:

• Insufficient funding for municipalities to implement disaster risk reduction measures.
• Poor coordination and communication among local, provincial, and national disaster response teams.
• Limited community involvement in disaster preparedness.
• Outdated forecasting models affecting early warning systems.
• A lack of monitoring and response capabilities, leaving municipalities overwhelmed.

To address these concerns, SALGA recently convened a Local Government Disaster Management Indaba in Ekurhuleni, where stakeholders agreed on the urgent need to restructure the current system.

Cllr. Mluleki Nkosi, Chairperson of SALGA’s Emergency Services and Disaster Management Working Group, emphasized the need to shift from reactive to proactive disaster management.

“Our current system is reactionary; we respond to disasters only after they occur. We must urgently transition to a proactive model that mitigates the impact of disasters through preparation, risk reduction, and early response mechanisms.”

To strengthen South Africa’s disaster response capabilities, SALGA says it is ramping up its support for under-resourced municipalities through capacity-building initiatives and advocacy efforts.

In addition, SALGA is urging communities to remain vigilant and to heed official weather alerts and warnings issued by authorities.

Community awareness and preparedness, the organization stresses, are crucial in minimizing loss of life and property damage.