Municipalities not ready for disaster management
12 August 2014
In a recent reply to a DA parliamentary question, the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Department revealed that the majority of local municipalities do not comply with the South African National Standard (SANS) 10090: Community Protection Against Fire, which is the primary barometer used by municipalities to measure performance of fire services.
Severe financial and resource capacity constraints and a lack of prioritisation by local municipal councils have led to councils not meeting the standards of these crucial regulations.
This is putting the lives of people at risk, as municipalities are not properly equipped to handle emergency situations. It is extremely worrying and indeed very dangerous.
All provinces submitted their district and metropolitan municipality information, besides in Gauteng where very little information was provided for the Cities of Johannesburg and Tshwane.