Disaster Risk Reduction Officials and Experts Meet at Disaster Management Conference

With the opening today (19 October 2005) in Hartenbos of the biggest annual disaster management conference in Africa, delegates will observe a minute of silence and light candles to commemorate those who have perished in or suffered injury or damage from the many disasters that have occurred around the world in the last year.

This ceremony has become a fixture at the conferences of the Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa and provides an opportunity for the delegates and members of the Institute to reconfirm their commitment to reducing disaster risk and increasing the resilience of communities at risk.

With media images from the many disasters that have occurred in the past year still vividly etched in the minds of many people, experts are now considering trying to define a new, higher degree of disaster that goes beyond what is normally anticipated, even in major disasters: the catastrophe. At the same time, Southern Africa is seen as an arena for considerable future climate change and vulnerability to communicable diseases.

During the two-day conference, speakers from South Africa, Ethiopia, India, Switzerland and Germany will focus on topics such as early warning, community-based disaster management, the South African National Disaster Management Framework, hazard and risk prioritisation using GIS technology, the predictability limitations of weather, disaster risk assessment, emergency telecommunications, environmental degradation in the Western Cape, severe convective storms in the Eastern Cape and the psycho-dimensions of disaster.

Disaster management officials from across South Africa are eagerly awaiting the launch of the new national emblem for Disaster Management on the second day of the conference by the Deputy Minister of Provincial & Local Government, Minister Nomatyala Hangana. The emblem is aimed at generating a standard corporate identity for disaster management, which will become familiar to the public. The Minister will also encourage other countries in Southern Africa to adopt the emblem and create standardisation on a regional (Southern Africa) level.

Other dignitaries to speak at the conference include the Mayor of Mossel Bay Municipality, Mr Michael Carelse; Mr Louis Buys from the National Disaster Management Centre and Mr Faan Naude, Chief Director and Head of the Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre.

The conference is hosted at the ATKV Resort in Hartenbos from 19-20 October 2005.

Members of the media are welcome to attend – arrange with Johan Minnie on cell 084 220 0074.

Issued by:
Wilfred Solomons
Disaster Risk Management Centre
City of Cape Town

Communication and Marketing
City of Cape Town
Email: media@capetown.gov.za
Tel: 021 400 2201
Fax: 021 957 0023

Media Queries:
Mr Peter Mokoto
President of Disaster Management Institute of Southern Africa
Cell: 083 289 2038