THE importance of municipalities being well prepared to ensure business continuity by having a disaster management centre was highlighted by recent calamities such as the Covid-19 pandemic, civil unrest in July 2021 and the April 2022 floods.
The iLembe District Municipality has prioritised business continuity under the Vuthela iLembe LED Support Programme’s audit and risk management project.
The Vuthela Programme contributes to the improvement of the economic future of the iLembe district and the quality of life of its residents, through sustainable growth of the local economy, and the creation of higher, better and more inclusive employment and income-generating opportunities.
Key expert for Vuthela’s Public Finance Management (PFM), Zama Soji, said that after having developed the business continuity strategies for all municipalities within the iLembe district, the question of how and where the municipalities should assemble to continue with their business had to be addressed.
She said during the execution of the project, the District Enterprise Risk Management Forum identified an iLembe District Disaster Management Centre (DMC) in Haysom Road, KwaDukuza, for consideration as a work area recovery (WAR) site.
“This would allow those already identified as key/critical resources, especially from a crisis management aspect, to be able to follow a coordinated approach to any disaster affecting the district.
“The DMC could also serve as a central point in order to assess any potential risks or vulnerability to communities, mitigating disaster severity, ensuring emergency preparedness, promoting rapid and effective response, ensuring the provision of relief, and implementing necessary actions in line with applicable legislation,” said Soji.
She added that plans are in place to upgrade the DMC and make it a recovery site. However, due to limited financial resources, the iLembe District Municipality will have to consider external funding sources to upgrade the centre to enable municipalities to function and continue with their critical activities in the event of crises.
