Premier

I thank the Member for this question, which is not only deeply important but also exceptionally relevant, given the tragic events near Mthatha in the Eastern Cape in recent weeks. Those horrific floods, which have now killed more than 100 people and displace more than 2 000, underscore South Africa’s vulnerability to the extreme weather events which are growing ever more common as a result of climate change, and the need to prepare and plan for the worst well ahead of time. I would like to ask each and every member of this House to join me in mourning the loss of those who have died, and keeping their families and those who have been displaced in our thoughts.

In the Western Cape, our teams are no strangers to extreme weather events, and are well-practiced at preparing for the trials of both our summer and winter seasons. Much of the work we undertake to prepare for and respond to extreme weather is located within the Department of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, the Department of Infrastructure, and the Department of Agriculture, Economic Opportunities and Tourism. As such, I have received information from all three of these departments for the purposes of this reply.

Planning is crucial in ensuring a rapid, effective, and coordinated response to any major emergency or incident that occurs. The Department of Local Government, through our world-class Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre (WCDMC), coordinates the planning efforts between provincial departments and municipalities in the Western Cape. For the current winter season, the WCDMC commenced planning in February 2025, requesting that local municipalities ensure the necessary planning was carried out and plans were duly submitted to the WCDMC. These were in turn collated and forwarded to the National Disaster Management Centre.

To capacitate our municipalities, a Disaster Management Learning Programme has been developed and is being rolled out to equip municipal officials with various aspects of Disaster Management. The programme consists of 16 short courses, of which five have already taken place. These courses are designed to provide officials with practical guidance on implementing Disaster Management in their municipalities. For example, in April, a short course was provided to 50 officials on early warnings to teach the officials how to establish early warning mechanisms in their municipalities. In June 2025, a course on awareness and training will be facilitated to teach municipal officials how to develop and implement awareness and training programmes in their communities.

The WCDMC has established a Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Plan, which outlines generic responses to incidents and emergencies, including a flood response. While primary responsibility for riverine floods and dam management lies with the National Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, responsibility for Urban flood preparedness and response fall under the jurisdiction of local municipalities. Therefore, the City of Cape Town and other municipalities have implemented flood contingency plans as part of their winter readiness planning or within their disaster management strategies. Prevention remains better than cure, and in addition to responding to disasters, our WCDMC is committed to working with every one of our municipalities to get the necessary measures in place before floods occur – not after.

Municipal mitigation and preparedness activities at a municipal level include the following:

• Provision of sand/milling;
• Clearing of rivers/bridges/drains/ponds/canals/culverts;
• Advising informal settlement residents to dig trenches around dwellings to divert rainwater;
• Rehabilitation of access roads at vulnerable informal settlements;
• Health and hygiene promotion around stagnant rainwater;
• Ensuring that an acceptable level of cleanliness is maintained to prevent drain blockages;
• Elevation of toilet facilities within low-lying informal settlement areas is identified for placement on high grounds;
• Trimming of trees to prevent damage from strong winds and to avoid service disruptions;
• Awareness raising of low-lying informal settlements of flood risk;
• Flood-wise public education and awareness;
• Opening of estuaries in flood-prone coastal areas; and
• Municipal services are always on standby to be activated in the event of a serious incident associated with adverse weather conditions.

In addition to the WCDMC’s work with municipalities, the provincial government adopts several other methods to strengthen our preparedness for extreme weather.

• Early weather warning systems provided by the South African Weather Services (SAWS) ensure flood awareness and targeted information dissemination based on severe weather warnings throughout the Province. A standard operating procedure has been developed to guide the distribution of Impact-Based Severe Weather Warnings received from the SAWS. These warnings are distributed to municipalities and departments to alert them of impending severe weather conditions. Depending on the level of the warning, a warning with preparedness messaging is posted on Facebook to alert communities and provide them with information on preparedness and prevention.
• Flood awareness materials have been developed to educate communities about what to do before, during and after a flood. These materials are provided to municipalities to support them with their awareness initiatives. Ongoing social media awareness campaigns are conducted throughout the winter in order to ensure that our residents know how to safeguard themselves in the event of floods. Of particular concern are some of our more isolated communities, for whom emergency services may take longer to arrive. A Community resilience-building training programme has been developed to educate these communities on how to respond to fires and floods in those all-important interim periods.
• We have also partnered with, supported, and/or funded NGOs and volunteer organisations such as the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), Search and Rescue South Africa (SARZA) and Life Saving South Africa. Organisations such as these provide a vital and much appreciated rescue capability, and bolster our ability to respond to extreme events.

The Department of Local Government, through the WCDMC, also mobilises provincial resources and infrastructure in support of municipal efforts and facilitates coordination between municipalities, sectors and national agencies. The Western Cape Disaster Management Centre remains in a state of readiness to minimize the impact of winter rains and enhance the safety and preparedness of communities.

In addition to these efforts, the Western Cape Government also works to ensure that roads and other infrastructure that connect our communities remain in place and are resilient against extreme weather events. Road infrastructure condition inspections are conducted annually, which helps to inform routine and preventative maintenance requirements, including that of bridge structures. Whilst flood damage repairs from previous years are still in progress, the department is also reviewing its designs in order to build resilient infrastructure that can last in a changing climate. Towards the end of last year, I visited the site of the R303 road to Citrusdal, which had suffered heavy damage during the season’s floods. The Department of Infrastructure has not only repaired that road, but has also built concrete culverts intended to ensure it survives a 20-year flood, and thus stays functional for years to come, regardless of severe weather conditions.

The department continues to execute its pre-winter and ongoing routine maintenance programmes such as storm water system clearing, vegetation control (bush cutting, grass cutting and litter picking).

The Department is also responding to the needs of vulnerable communities and informal settlements using the R325,722,000 2025/26 Informal Settlements Upgrade Partnership Grant (ISUPG), with a total of 52 projects now underway. These interventions entail the installation or upgrading of services such as clean water, sanitation, and electricity. In some cases, services are provided on a shared basis.

A total of 15 projects delivering 1,626 serviced sites accommodated in the Business Plan are currently in the implementation phase, and the remaining projects are in the planning or packaging stages for delivery over the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) period.

Furthermore, the Department has also embarked on a proactive emergency response by providing emergency kits on a multi-year basis to municipalities within the Western Cape Province. These kits enhance the preparedness and response capabilities of municipalities in the event of emergency incidents across the province, such as floods, fires, farm evictions, and re-blocking/super-blocking relocations.

Last but not least, we must also ensure that adverse conditions and extreme weather events do not negatively impact our food chain and our rural communities, who form the backbone of our agricultural sector.

Through its programme, Sustainable Resource Use and Management (SRUM), the Western Cape Department of Agriculture is responsible for the following initiatives to mitigate flood risk in agricultural areas:

1. Distribute early warnings to the wider agricultural community and role players. These early warnings are received from the national department and are widely distributed to warn of possible risks and advise on mitigation actions to be taken. This is an ongoing process.
2. Identify risk areas in riparian zones and implement ecological infrastructure interventions. The programme has been implementing this intervention for a number of years. The success of this intervention to proactively prevent flood damage has been demonstrated repeatedly during previous flood events.
3. Provide technical support during and after flood events to assess the damage and limit further losses. While the previous interventions are implemented pre-disaster, this is a post disaster recovery intervention. All plans and procedures are in place to immediately respond in the event of a flood or any other agricultural disaster. The Department’s in-house developed Flood Assessment Application contributes to quick damage assessments.
4. Alien clearing and dead biomass removals in rivers. Infestations of alien vegetation in rivers disturb the river’s natural functioning and exacerbate flood damage. Removal of this vegetation reinstates the natural flow in rivers, which leads to reduced flood damage. This is therefore another preventative measure to reduce flood risk and is an ongoing activity.

The effects of climate change and our vulnerable position within a changing global ecosystem mean that extreme weather events are becoming more and more prevalent: what was once a once-in-a-decade storm or wildfire is now a yearly occurrence, and we as a government have to rise to that task. We have spent years building our capacity to respond to and mitigate disasters, and we will continue to do so for as long as it is necessary. This government stands committed and ready to do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our residents.