Request to declare Eastern Cape floods a national disaster will be considered

Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa will consider declaring a national state of disaster in the flood-hit Eastern Cape.
This after the EFF recommended immediate action with a national disaster command council, citing severe damage and provincial incapacity.
The government launched early response measures, deployed resources, and prioritised saving lives, restoring services and recovery planning.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa says he will consider the EFF's urgent request to him to declare a national state of disaster in response to the floods in the Eastern Cape.
'Regarding the proposal that a state of disaster be declared, I wish to point out that I will consider this as an option only when it becomes clear that the existing legislation and contingency arrangements need to be augmented [i.e. requiring temporary legislative means] through disaster regulations designed to achieve a specific objective that cannot be achieved through the classification of the disaster already made,' Hlabisa said.
Last week, the EFF wrote to Hlabisa: 'It is our firm view that the conditions outlined in Section 27[1] of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 [Act No 57 of 2002] have now clearly been met. The scale of destruction, the level of human loss and the visible institutional incapacity of the provincial government demand that a national state of disaster be declared without delay.'
The party proposed that Hlabisa's department immediately establish a national disaster response command council involving key national departments, public finance watchdogs, provincial representatives and affected community leaders.
In his response on 14 June, Hlabisa conceded the tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people, required collaborative interventions by all spheres of government.
'When our early warning systems, managed through the South African Weather Services, alerted the government to the expected severe weather conditions, the National Disaster Management Centre immediately, through the respective provincial and municipal disaster management centres in the identified areas, prepared and issued early warning messages and alerts to communities and organs of state to make preparations and to take early action to mitigate the potential impact of the expected severe weather.'
He said he took note of the EFF's proposal for the coordination of the disaster response and pointed out that upon receipt of its letter on 12 June, respective provincial and municipal disaster management centres had already been active for several days from where they had been implementing their respective contingency arrangements and providing daily reports on their assessments, response measures and so on through daily situational reports.
He said: 'At the national level of government, the National Joint Flood Coordination Committee [both technical and directors-general] as well as the Interministerial Committee of Disaster Management were already activated and have met on several occasions to assess the situation and to make decisions on how to support the affected provinces, specifically the Eastern Cape.'
'In this regard, a high-level delegation of ministers, DGs [directors-general], and senior officials were deployed on Tuesday to the Eastern Cape and, on arrival, started to coordinate and integrate the response and support efforts already under way. Daily meetings of various technical and political structures are taking place.'
On the declaration of the national disaster, Hlabisa said that on 11 June, the disaster centre had completed the preliminary assessments of the disaster.
The following day, he added, a national disaster classification was done for the four provinces, the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Western Cape, which designated the primary responsibility to coordinate and manage the disaster to the national executive using existing legislation and contingency arrangements; and paved the way for the allocation of additional materials and funds, be it through the reallocation or reprioritisation of existing grants or the allocation of funds from the disaster relief grants that his department manages.
Hlabisa added:
Regarding your request for a concrete outline of the national government's intended course of action, I wish to point out that the immediate plan is to ensure that we save lives, provide emergency shelter, and provide immediate relief materials that are needed by the affected communities to stabilise the situation
Additionally, the minister added that the weather had improved over the last few days, which would help finalise this response phase in the next few days.
'The completion of the restoration of basic services [water, sanitation and electricity] that has been interrupted, and the provision of sustained relief to ensure that a process of recovery is ushered in, is also a key priority.
'The assessment of damage to homes and infrastructure to plan the reconstruction is also already under way and, once completed, will allow for the preparation of a comprehensive rehabilitation programme which can be communicated when developed.'

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