By Akani Nkuna
The National Treasury has been requested to make more money available so that the government can assist disaster-hit areas, according to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister VelenkosiHlabisa.
He said on Monday that the department acknowledge the challenges faced by the country in funding disaster interventions, mainly due to increased disaster damages, fiscal deficit and competing priorities.
The department was currently engaging National Treasury on other funding mechanisms to ensure sustainability.
“This requires the private sector and all relevant stakeholders to come on board. With the increasing number of disasters across the country in 2023/24, the department submitted a funding request to the National Treasury to support the affected organs of the state with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the damaged infrastructure,” he told reporters in Pretoria on Monday.
Hlabisa emphasised that the department’s request for funding was grounded in a forward-thinking strategy, prioritising long-term sustainability in disaster management through proactive prevention measures.
“I think what we must invest on much is preventing disaster than responding to disaster. Predictions can be made, but the truth of the matter… [is we cannot] leave anything to chance. That is why we are saying, let us be ready. And any warning that South African Weather Services (SAWS) must be taken seriously,” he said.
The minister said the department and weather service were collaborating to educate the public on forecasted adverse weather conditions and their connection to climate change.
“The people of South Africa must cooperate. When the levels are reported to be at level 6, we will take drastic steps. Where people need to be relocated, we will need to do so. And we will ask the cooperation of our people,” said Hlabisa.
SAWS manager Ezekiel Sebego said that even though below normal rainfall was predicted for this summer, it did not rule out possibilities of short-term extreme weather events.
“Even below normal rainfall season, we can still have flooding events that happen over two or three days,” he said.
Hlabisa added that the department planned in dealing with anticipated disasters during this season via enhanced early warning systems, seasonal climate forecasts, multi-sectoral approaches, proactive contingency planning and public awareness campaigns.
“We have prepared the disaster management contingency plans by facilitating the National Disaster Management Centre as guided by the SAWS summer seasonal outlook,” said Hlabisa.
Treasury is expected to come back to the department with an answer on the additional funding by Thursday.
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