The Eastern Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC), established in 2013 to enhance the province’s disaster management efforts, has an inadequate staff component with a vacancy rate of 45%.
The PDMC needs an additional R111 million rand in funding to reach full functionality, bringing into question the province’s ability to adequately respond to crises, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic.
These revelations were made by Premier Oscar Mabuyane in response to a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance.
The National Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 provides for the establishment of PDMCs, which must, among other things, promote an integrated and co-ordinated approach to disaster management with an emphasis on prevention and mitigation.
The Premier revealed that, of the 29 positions at the PDMC, there are currently 13 vacancies, these include a director, two deputy directors, four assistant managers and six senior officers.
Over and above these budgeted for posts, the PMDC also needs, at least, an additional 16 staff. These posts consist of eight call centre staff, two Government Information Systems (GIS) specialists, four data capturers and two control room shift supervisors.
The PDMC has been greatly inadequate in delivering on its mandate. Beset with problems, the parliamentary response revealed that it lacked, among others, disaster and emergency relief materials and storage capacity for said materials, and a mobile command response vehicle.
The PDMC does not even have the budget to cover the R500 000 for the annual licencing fees for the Disaster Management Integrated Information Systems.
This raises serious questions on the province’s ability to provide a co-ordinated response to disasters, including but not limited to the current pandemic, or the prevailing drought affecting the province.
In comparison, the Western Cape’s expanded Disaster Management resources have played a significant role in the province’s ability to respond to disasters. 95% of all wildfires being brought under control within the first hour of being reported and, during SA’s largest firefighting efforts to date, the Knysna fires of 2017, they successfully coordinated the evacuation of over 10 000 people.
I have now written to the Premier to request his intervention to ensure the PDMC plays a more active role in identifying and mitigating disasters in the province.
If the Eastern Cape is to provide suitable responses to disasters, and in so doing save the lives of its people, it needs to have the necessary resources available to do so.