Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Fundraising Amendment Bill into law, in order to facilitate the way for a new relief fund to help communities that are victims of disasters.
The president signed the bill following more than a year since it was adopted by the National Assembly.
The Department of Social Development said the Disaster Relief Fund would be renamed the Disaster Relief and National Social Development Fund and will prioritise what it called “developmental efforts” to safeguard communities vulnerable to disasters.
The department said that the main focus of the bill was to amend the provisions of the Fund-raising Act by removing duplications that are in the current relief funds, with some sitting dormant for years and locking in over R100 million in donations.
Earlier this week, at least 70 people had to be evacuated in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal following heavy rains caused flooding in the central business district.
The bill is expected to streamline the administration of the various funds established before 1994 to provide humanitarian relief in times of disaster.
However, some have raised concerns over implementation with the African Centre of Disaster Studies calling into question the ambition of the government and pointing it’s inability to meet the promises it has made to communities.
ACDS Director Dewald Van Niekerk said that legislative attempts by the government remained problematic in relation to a lack of clear guidance when it came to implementation at a municipality level.
INSIDE POLITICS