Question NW1793 to the President of the Republic
25 May 2022 - NW1793
Steenhuisen, Mr JH to ask the President of the Republic
With reference to his address to the nation on Monday, 18 April 2022, following the devastating floods of April 2022, wherein he announced a national state of disaster and the fact that the primary responsibility to co-ordinate and manage the disaster is assigned to the national sphere of government and committed to a three-phase response, namely, immediate humanitarian relief, stabilisation and recovery, and reconstruction and rebuilding, (a) what are the details of the implementation plan for the first two phases, (b) who has he assigned to lead each of the first two phases and (c) how will the public be updated on progress of the first two phases?
Reply:
Phase 1 on provision of immediate humanitarian relief focuses on addressing the immediate needs within affected communities. This includes search, rescue and recovery operations, burial assistance, death certificates, post-mortems, health services, psychosocial support, temporary shelter, food, personal essentials and emergency water supply.
Phase 2 on stabilisation and recovery interventions focuses on short term measures to repair and rebuild public infrastructure and facilities. This includes water, sanitation, stormwater and drainage infrastructure, electricity infrastructure, roads and bridges, rail networks, telecommunications infrastructure, health facilities, solid waste infrastructure, school infrastructure and human settlements. It also includes the provision of housing support and provision of social relief of distress grants.
For the details of the implementation plans, I refer the Honourable Member to the presentation by the Department of Cooperative Governance to the Ad Hoc Joint Committee on Flood Disaster Relief and Recovery on 23 May 2022.
The coordination of efforts by relevant stakeholders is the responsibility of the Minister of
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) as per the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002). Each organ of state is responsible for interventions across the phases as per their respective mandates.
The Communication and Community Mobilisation Task Team led by the Government Communications and Information System (GCIS) is responsible for communicating progress to the public. Updates are also being provided through existing platforms across the spheres of government.