CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.5. Recommendations
Ćosić et al, (2011: 52) outlines that,
“Disaster risk management seeks to reduce the vulnerability of those communities most at risk through improved access to services, development opportunities, Information, education and empowerment. Once the vulnerability is assessed; standards, regulations and programmes to raise awareness need to be determined with the ultimate goal to reduce existing vulnerabilities and minimize their future appearance.”
Given the comprehensive Environmental Management Framework and Strategic Environmental Planning tool of the ELLM, there appears to be a strong advocacy for maintaining EI in the Driefontein LAP, based on the protection of environmentally sensitive sites (ELLM, 2011a). Due to these examples, some of the recommendations for this research were drawn from this document as it clearly indicates its support for the EI. It stated that well managed catchments can perform their important ecological services in a far more effective and resilient manner than those which are under stress from
18 Disaster prevention measures are strategies aiming to lessen the likelihood of harmful losses by avoiding endangering hazards or reducing vulnerability.
124 | P a g e development pressures (ELLM, 2011a: 5). The following interventions are suggested over a short-term period:
(a) Educate current users and those located within wetlands and riparian corridors of the possible socio-cultural and environmental impacts on sensitive areas;
(b) Restrict development in pristine areas such as grasslands;
(c) Develop guidelines and by-laws for use of areas identified as development exclusion zones;
Over a medium-term period the municipality should focus on facilitating the following:-
(a) Develop inter-governmental and inter-sector relationships for the management of development exclusion zones;
(b) Engage with relevant sector departments programmes such as ‘Working for Water and Working for Wetlands’ to maintain riparian corridors; and engage with the Alien Plant Control Programme to remove alien plants within wetlands and riparian zones. The Development planning must respond to the recommendations suggested by the Emnambithi/Ladysmith DMP review 2015/2016 as it clearly states that the programmes enshrined in the development and spatial plans of the municipality must incorporate the regularity and severity of the disaster events. This includes the following: replanting indigenous grasses or trees on a recently burned slope near roads or dwellings to stabilise the soil and prevent damaging land subsidence. It must be noted that the Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for the replanting of the degraded vegetation (indigenous plants species) and coordinating related projects in the ELLM.
(c) The least favourable option for decision making on land use in floodplain site of Ladysmith is based on permanent evacuation of the communities and properties in the wetlands, floodplains, and riparian areas (ELLM, 2015b). The reason for the lack of support with permanent evacuation is that, it does not only lead to significant reallocation of development projects but it also leads to social disruption and impacts on the culture of people. In this way, it is seen as a sensitive issue that cannot be adequately justified.
(d) As Ladysmith experiences storm water failure, it is suggested that it should focus on the careful positioning of storm water drainage and its ongoing maintenance to prevent destructive flooding during heavy rain (ELLM, 2015b). The municipality must also consider alternative solutions based on soft engineering. For example, the Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) may be considered as a medium or long term solution for the town. The example of this in good practice has been highlighted in Chapter 2 where it is shown how one
125 | P a g e of the European cities (Oslo) used Blue-green storm water management as a cost effective strategy over hard an engineering piped solution.
(e) Address language barriers that will bring clarity in defining the main concepts such as EI Over the medium to long-term, the municipality would need to establish measures to prevent future settlements in wetlands, riparian zones and flood plains (ELLM, 2011a: 7). The long-term desired situation would be the protection of rivers and wetlands. With this, the focus will be on monitoring and reviewing the programmes that have been put in place.
One-way of communicating the activities aimed at raising awareness on the issues of disaster risk reduction among decision makers and the general public are: Radio spots and radio communication in communities; TV broadcasts; Media interaction in newspapers, journals, magazines, IEC5 materials;
leaflets, posters, billboards, brochures etc., conferences, symposia, seminars, workshops, peer – to- peer awareness initiatives; awareness campaigns: street drama, theatre, song, simulation exercises and mock drills (ELLM, 2015b: 38).
It is deemed necessary to formulate appropriate Standing Operating Procedures (SOP’s)19 and contingency plans20 for flood hazards, which can be activated during an event to enable all Emergency Departments to react timeously during such an event (ELLM, 2015b). Until recently, there is a comprehensive disaster response plan (See Appendix E2) but it is argued that it would not respond timeously to the remote communities. This is the case because the municipal departments and other government structures are mostly the last resort and take time to reach into these areas. It is even worse when there is rain because the roads would be filled with mud thus making it impossible for the emergency vehicles to come in (i.e. the Emachibini access road made up of gravel and lack of storm water pipes). In this way, it may be concluded that the plan is far easier to implement or respond to in the urban setting.
19 A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a set of written instructions that document a routine or repetitive activity followed by an organization. They document the way activities are to be performed to ensure conformity to technical and quality system requirements (Goolaup, 2011: 4).
20 Contingency Planning is forward planning process, in a state of uncertainty, in which scenarios and objectives are agreed, managerial and technical actions defined, and potential response systems put in place in order to prevent, or better respond to, an emergency situation. The whole point of contingency planning is to begin the planning before the emergency begins by mapping out objectives and strategies prior to the crisis stage (Goolaup, 2011: 1).
126 | P a g e It is recommended that a ladder or hierarchy of leaders be developed who are responsible for disaster response and define clearly what their roles and responsibilities in the community setting are. During the disasters, the team to assess the level of disaster must be easily identified and the citizens must know where to go when encountering these problems. There should be also an openness in case the public want to participate in the solutions to mitigate the disaster faced (See Figure 6.1. for the structures to be taken into account).
Table 7.1: Community level, municipal and other role players to respond to disasters AREA List of Hazards Community Based
response/structures
Municipal Based Response/Services
Other Assistance Emachibini
and
surrounding areas
Strong winds Izinduna, Councillor, Traditional healers, Church organisations, small Businesses, Farmers/association, Stokvel Societies, teachers, Schools, Relatives &
Neighbours, youth leaders, Elders, among others
Public Safety (FIRE) and Uthukela District Municipality; EMRS, ER 24 and Sharaj Ambulance and rescue; SA Army, SAPS and Medical mobile clinics
NGOs; Nambithi Game Reserve, relations with the surrounding communities, banks, componies, and insurances Floods
Lightning Fire Droughts Diseases Gullies Hailstorm
Even though the table was created, it may be appropriate to rank the stakeholders according to their powers and develop a diagram which shows how to reach to the top when one experiences a hazard that cannot be solved under the particular level or stage. The same method was used to create Figure 6.1 and it could be helpful to identify who comes in during the particular stages when the disaster develops. It is important to map the community members with the key resources and skills because it can be negotiated what role they can play when it comes to resolving water and environmental disasters.
The research further suggests that decision makers could use scenario planning when planning for urban and municipal uncertainties because the future is becoming more unpredictable due to climate change. With scenario planning (figure 6.1), it is possible to foresee and prepare various plans to deal with multiple futures in case unusual event happen (DWAF, 1998). In this manner, the resilience of the ELLM to flooding and environmental changes could be increased.
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