Question NW3808 to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
22 November 2023 - NW3808
Buthelezi, Ms SA to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Whether her department has any measures in place to assess the preparedness of municipalities to handle natural disasters; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what are the relevant details of the specified measures for each municipality in the Republic, (b) how often are assessments of the measures conducted, (c) when last were the assessments conducted in each municipality and (d) what has been the expenditure for each assessment exercise in each municipality during the past five financial years?
Reply:
Yes, the department has measures in place to assess disaster management plans in their entirety, and this process include the assessment of preparedness measures of municipalities to handle natural disasters.
a) The assessment measures (tools) include the guideline on the “Development and structure of a disaster management plan” that the NDMC developed and published in 2017 (Annexure A). Within this guideline, there is a “Disaster Management Plan Checklist” that is followed during assessments to verify if all aspects of a disaster management plan are addressed in the plan. These measures are uniform and standard measures used when disaster management plans of respective municipalities are assessed. There are no individual or specified measures for each municipality in the Republic, other than the once referred to.
b) Number of assessments determined in the APP Annual Targets are undertaken/conducted on a quarterly basis. These include continuous engagements with municipalities whose disaster management plans / preparedness measures are assessed to address gaps identified during the assessments.
c) The last assessments were undertaken during quarter 2, July – September 2023.
d) There is no expenditure incurred as the assessments are undertaken inhouse by the NDMC officials.
End.