Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002)

Notices

Severe Weather Events

Classification of a National Disaster in terms of Section 23 of the Act: Impact of Severe Weather in the Country

Notice No. 5813 of 2025
Purchase cart Previous page Return to chapter overview Next page

 

Notice No. 5813

30 January 2025

GG 52015

 

Department of Co-operative Governance

 

I, Dr Bongani Elias Sithole, in my capacity as the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre, after having deliberations with various organs of state and Heads of Provincial Disaster Management Centres, and after assessing the magnitude and severity of a severe weather system that resulted in thunderstorms, disruptive rains, floods, windstorms and hail during December 2024 and January 2025, causing significant impact in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Limpopo, North-West, Gauteng and the Mpumalanga Provinces, which has and may still result in the loss of life, damage to property, infrastructure and the environment, as well as the disruption of basic services, hereby give notice that, in terms of Section 23(1)(b) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002), classified the impact caused by severe weather in the areas listed above as a National Disaster.

 

Emanating from the classification, in terms of section 26, read with section 23 of the Act, the primary responsibility to coordinate and manage this disaster, in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements, is designated to the National Executive.

 

I hereby—

 

(i) in terms of Section 15(2)(aA) of the Act, read with section 23(8), call upon organs of state to further strengthen their support to the existing structures to implement their contingency arrangements and to ensure that measures are put in place to enable the National Executive to effectively deal with the effects of this disaster.

 

(ii) in terms of Section 22(a) of the Act, read with Sections 25(1)(c), 39(1)(c), 39(2)(k), 53(1)(c) and 53(2)(k) of the Act, recommend that the National Executive, the respective Provincial Executives and the respective Councils, implement a multisectoral relief and rehabilitation plan to deal with the effects of the disaster,

 

(iii) in terms of Section 22(a) of the Act, read with Section 21(a)(ii), recommend that each organ of state prepare and submit progress reports, in line with the requirements of the National Disaster Management Centre, to monitor the response initiatives by organs of state, non-governmental organisations and communities.

 

Furthermore, all affected organs of state must prepare and submit reports, as required by the National Disaster Management Centre as outlined in section 24(4) - (8) of the Act.

 

The revocation of the classification is set out in the schedule hereto.

 

 

Dr Bongani Elias Sithole

Head: National Disaster Management Centre

Date: 12/01/2025

 

Schedule

 

The National Executive dealt with the national disaster in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements without declaring a national state of disaster in terms of section 27(1) of the Act.

The classification is revoked by the Head: National Disaster Management Centre when the occurrence can no longer be regarded as a disaster in terms of the Act upon reassessment by the NDMC.

The National Executive dealt with the national disaster in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements as augmented by regulations and/or directions following the declaration of a national state of disaster in terms of section 27(2).

The classification of a national disaster is automatically revoked when the national state of disaster is terminated or lapses in terms of section 27(5) of the Act.