Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, says government has to consider introducing a policy imperative that will in future help with long-term planning in the field of disaster management.

“From a disaster management planning point of view, we should also be able to identify the common casualties of each type of disaster to assist in the response measures.

“This is especially crucial during this era of climate change, in order for government to be fully prepared to respond during times of floods and other disasters,” said Gungubele after last week’s visit to eThekwini Municipality.

The visit was aimed at assessing progress in the implementation of a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework following the recent floods in the area.

As part of his visit, Gungubele undertook a briefing session with various departments, entities and stakeholders. He also visited the Durban port and Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital regarding the operational progress that has been made after the flooding.

The Minister reiterated the importance all spheres of government to work with communities to address the disaster, as outlined by the District Development Model (DDM).

Through the DDM, joint and collaborative planning is undertaken at local, district and metropolitan level by all three spheres of governance, resulting in a single, strategically focussed ‘One Plan’ for each of the 44 districts and eight metropolitan geographic spaces in the country.

The DDM envisions the district as a ‘landing strip’ for the rollout of the plan.

“We must work with all spheres of government, and especially with our communities, in creating awareness around settlement planning and community responses to disasters,” Gungubele said.

Together with his delegation, the Minister received reports on the work that is underway to ensure the rebuilding and stabilisation phase is underway.

“We are here to assess whether indeed a plan exists to intervene against an audit, which is coherent and accurate against the damage caused by the disaster.

“As the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), we are also responsible for ensuring, as per the instruction of the President, that the Auditor-General is going to do a real time audit of government interventions in the KZN floods disaster.

“We are happy that the process has started. We received reports on the work that is underway to ensure the rebuilding and stabilisation phase is underway,” Gungubele said.

He was accompanied by the KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Economic Development Tourism and Environmental Affairs, Ravi Pillay and eThekwini Councillor Nkosenhle Madlala, who received reports from Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the Durban Chamber of Commerce, the DPME and the eThekwini Municipality on the various government interventions in the KZN floods.

Source: South African Government News Agency