City's disaster management under strain

CAPE

- MURRAY SWART

A DEVASTATING fire which swept through the Tspe Tsepe Informal Settlement in Khayelitsha left 377 people destitute. | Gift of the Givers

(Gift of the Givers)

Town's disaster management capacity is under pressure, with the City confirming that a key disaster management responsibility has remained vacant for more than a year while emergency incidents continue to be recorded across the metro.The acknowledgement appears in the City of Cape Town's Disaster Risk Management quarterly report for October to December last year, which outlines disaster activations during the period and notes the prolonged vacancy within the disaster management function.

According to the report, the responsibility has been vacant for longer than 12 months, placing additional pressure on existing staff during periods of high operational demand.