Mission
To maximise the disaster resistance of the residents and communities of Tshwane, the public and private sectors in Tshwane and the economy of Tshwane through the coordination of all-hazard prevention, preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery activities within the framework of sustainable development
Purpose
To coordinate and facilitate access to the resources needed to identify and reduce risks and thus to eliminate the impact of disasters and emergencies on people, property, the environment and the economy of Tshwanee
- Ensuring integrated, comprehensive and coordinated disaster management planning in Tshwanee
- Doing integrated development planning and entering into cooperative partnerships
- Carrying out specialised multidisciplinary disaster management operations and doing risk-specific contingency planning
- Promoting optimum preparedness in communities
- Coordinating and facilitating access to resources and management information
Disasters can be substantially reduced if people are well informed and motivated towards a culture of disaster prevention and resilience, which in turn requires the collection, compilation and dissemination of relevant knowledge and information on hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities. Disaster Management is everybody's business and it will require everybody's efforts to effectively deal with disasters and more importantly, to also be proactively, in preventing them from occurring. With all departments and municipalities supporting the Be Safe at Home awareness campaign, this will contribute towards "Making the City of Tshwane a safe home and resilient community for all". Disaster risk reduction is a cross-cutting issue in the context of sustainable development and therefore an important element for the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration. In addition, every effort should be made to use humanitarian assistance in such a way that risks and future vulnerabilities will be lessened as much as possible.
The Disaster Management Services Division is supported by a specialised unit called the Disaster Management Centre, which creates, develops and reviews all disaster management plans for the city and responds to and manages all disaster incidents, accidents and emergencies.
This is the information nerve centre of Disaster Management. It was established to promote and support comprehensive, integrated and effective disaster management in Tshwane.
The centre's functions include:
- improving knowledge about and raising awareness of disasters; and
- coordinating and facilitating access to resources and management information.
The centre is situated at the department's head office in the Pieter Delport Centre on the corner of Government Avenue and Beckett Street in Arcadia.
The e-mail address of the centre's Info Desk is DMInfoDesk@tshwane.gov.za.
The Disaster Management Centre is divided into six subsections:
- Information Systems Management: responsible for the capture, provision and management of information for all sections
- Capacity-building and Awareness: responsible for training the community in basic first-aid, basic fire-fighting, disaster management principles, using awareness-building campaigns and events
- Disaster Management Operations Centre: provides an environment for officers to make informed decisions about incidents and the operations required to manage them
- Multidisciplinary Coordination: responsible for establishing and maintaining disaster management NGO forums
- Planning: responsible for planning and coordinating all special events in the city
- Disaster Risk Management: responsible for regional coordination to increase public and private sector preparedness through emergency planning and assessing specific risks to increase community preparedness
Sub-sections:
Disaster Risk Management Operations Centre::
The aim of the DRMOC is to ensure an integrated response to emergencies or disasters where multi-disciplinary teams are involved in response activities. The centre acts as a strategic centralised coordination centre. Contact details of the DRMOC: 012 358 2252/2220
Disaster Risk Management Information System:
The DMIS ensures the integration and display of various sets of information to a comprehensive view of all relevant data relating to disaster risks in the City and to maximize the availability of real time management information to ensure an effective and coordinated response to large scale incidents.
Contact details: 012 358 2300/2272
Disaster management incidents and data: 012 358 2272/2300
Public Awareness and Capacity Building:
To increase public awareness on disaster risks and to build community capacity. The aim is to increase the disaster resilience of communities. This is done through an increased emphasis on the reduction of risks and community vulnerability to risks. Various means are used e.g. road shows, puppet shows, awareness campaigns at schools and communities, etc.
Contact details:
Information desk (disaster management library): 012 358 9625/6463/2253
Education and awareness campaigns (including exhibitions): 012 358 9625/6463/2253
Training and Capacity building: 012 358 9625/6463/2253
Information desk (disaster management library): 012 358 9625/6463/2253
Community Disaster Risk Management:
The function has been regionalised and the aim is to increase public and private sector preparedness through emergency planning, coordination and integration as well as to increase community preparedness through assessing specific risks and the development and implementation of plans to reduce those risks.
Contact details: 012 358 3390
Public and Private sector emergency planning, coordination and integration: 012 358 3390
Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction: 012 358 3390
Establishment of Disaster Management Ward committee: 012 358 3390
Emergency planning and assistance with evacuation exercises and community participation in all wards (Risk identification and risk reduction):
012 358 3222
Disaster Risk Management Multi-disciplinary coordination:
The aim is to activate and involve external role players in disaster management matters of concern. This is done mainly through the establishment and maintenance of a Disaster Management NGO Forum consisting of regional branches.
Contact details: 012 358 2129
Education and Awareness:
One of the common disasters in poor areas and
informal settlements are fires. These fires are often caused by
incidents with paraffin stove or candles. Because of the building
practices in informal settlements, and the building materials used in
these settlements, everyday tools such as primus stove, paraffin lamp
or candles can become extremely dangerous if incorrectly used. The
awareness campaign will focus on the following contents:
- Educate the community about leaving enough space between houses to prevent the spread of fire;
- Allow emergency vehicles into the area;
- Train and establishing disaster management ward committees/volunteers;
- Educating the community (elderly and kids) about the emergency numbers;
- Keeping a bucket of sand next to their doors;
- Giving knowledge of Basic Fire Fighting and First-Aid;
- Knowledge on what to do if clothing is on fire (stop, drop and roll);
- Knowledge on what to do if you get a burn
- Perform the crawl low in smoke procedures;
- Knowledge in paraffin safety;
- Use matches and lighters safely;
- Practice kitchen safety;
- Practice fire safety around heating sources;
- Participates in home hazard inspection (fuel removal);
- Practice fire safety with flammable liquids;
- Practice outdoor fire safety;
- Reporting fire and smoke immediately;
- Encourage fire safety smoking habits;
- Use a home escape plan.