Durban - Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has unveiled a new programme for emergency housing, in a bid to create a more efficient response during natural disasters.
Kubayi said in a recent briefing that the impact of these natural disasters was devastating to households with some of the victims left homeless while others were left with damaged houses.
“The increase in the frequency of these disasters and the severity of the devastation requires a human settlement disaster response that is swift and appropriate for alleviating the plight of the affected families.”
She said the department had found that the response to these situations had been slow which left victims waiting for homes for two to three years after the disaster has struck.
“In some instances, people have been in temporary structures for more than fifteen years when the policy says these structures must be replaced within six months.”
She said the department had concluded that the inadequate response can mainly be attributed to:
- Long delays in applications for disaster grant funding from affected municipalities and provinces.
- Lack of skills for assessment of disasters at a provincial and municipal level.
- Dysfunctionality of municipalities due to political instability
- Inordinately prolonged delays in land acquisition, which frustrated the process of temporarily accommodating people.
She said the department, working with National Treasury, determined that the response to disasters will be more effective if managed at a national level.
“This also means that the emergency funds will be available for deployment to affected areas at the time of need rather than being appropriated to a province or municipality that does not experience a disaster during the financial year.’’
Kubayi said in line with the move, from this month, the department will take over implementing the emergency housing programme.
Therefore the provincial emergency housing grant and the municipal emergency housing grant will cease to exist.
She added, however, that provinces and municipalities are expected to ensure that they still attend to all outstanding households whose properties were destroyed in previous disasters.
She said to implement the emergency housing programme from the new financial year, the Emergency Housing Command Centre has been established to coordinate the national disaster response.
“It will have linkages to the South African Weather Service and provide the ability to receive early warning alerts to enable the pro-active mobilisation of resources to respond to imminent disaster; this will also link to the National Disaster Centre.”
She added that a disaster management team had been created, that combines and leverages the skills and capacity of the Department and departmental entities, including the Housing Development Agency, National Home Builders Regulatory Council, and the National Housing Finance Corporation.
Kubayi further announced that the department had decided that instead of providing Temporary Residential Units (TRUs)for disaster-affected households, it will introduce a permanent solution through alternative building technology (ABT), particularly in rural areas.
Other measures will include:
- Provision of vouchers for affected households to enable them to build their homes, but this time with the alternative of using new technology instead of only brick and mortar.
- Provision of building material for residents in informal settlements to rebuild in the same location or to relocate to safer land working alongside social facilitators
- Provision of Transitional Emergency Accommodation (TEA), which could include using various identified vacant government buildings across the country