The following definitions, as per the DM Act and the NDMF are applicable to this document as well as definitions of terms used by the Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)
"Acceptable risk” means the level of loss a society or community considers acceptable given existing social, economic, political, cultural, technical and environmental conditions.
"Adaptation” means—
(a)in relation to human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities; and
(b)in relation to natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects.
"Biological hazard” means the processes of organic origin or those conveyed by biological vectors, including exposure to pathogenic micro-organisms, toxins and bioactive substances, which may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation.
"Capacity building” means the efforts aimed to develop human skills or societal infrastructures within a community or organization needed to reduce the level of risk.
"Climate change” means a change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer.
"Coping capacity” the means by which people or organizations use available resources and abilities to face adverse consequences that could lead to a disaster.
"Counter measures” means all measures taken to counter and reduce disaster risk. They most commonly refer to engineering (structural) measures but can also include non-structural measures and tools designed and employed to avoid or limit the adverse impact of natural hazards and related environmental and technological disasters.
"Disaster” means a progressive or sudden, wide-spread or localised, natural or human-caused occurrence which—
(a)causes or threatens to cause—
(i) death, injury or disease.
(ii)damage to property, infrastructure or the environment; or
(iii) significant disruption of the life of a community; and
(b)is of a magnitude that exceeds the ability of those affected by the disaster to cope with its effects using only their own resources.
"Disaster management” means a continuous and integrated multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary process of planning and implementation of measures aimed at—
(a)preventing or reducing the risk of disasters.
(b)mitigating the severity or consequences of disasters.
(c)emergency preparedness.
(d)a rapid and effective response to disasters; and
(e)post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation.
A note on terminology
Disaster Management: The term Disaster Management is used in the context of it being the centre of the development of disaster management legislation in the country. Therefore, the Disaster Management Act, as amended in 2015 (herein after referred to as the Act) refers only to the term Disaster Management, both as a function and a discipline. Disaster Management as a discipline involves but is not limited to policy, strategy, plans, measures and all related activities concerning disaster risks, and is referred to as disaster management.
"Disaster response”means measures taken during or immediately after a disaster in order to provide assistance and meet the life preservation and basic subsistence needs of those people and communities affected by the disaster. These measures can be of immediate, short term or protracted duration. (NDMF)
"Disaster recovery” means decisions and actions taken immediately after a disaster with a view to restoring or improving the pre-disaster living conditions of the stricken community, while encouraging and facilitating necessary adjustments to reduce disaster risk. Recovery (rehabilitation and reconstruction) affords an opportunity to develop and apply disaster risk reduction measures. (NDMF)
"Disaster risk assessment” means a process to determine the nature and extent of risk by analysing potential hazards and evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability that could pose a potential threat or harm to people, property, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend. (NDMF)
"Disaster risk reduction” means either a policy goal or objective, and the strategic and instrumental measures employed for—
(a)anticipating future disaster risk.
(b)reducing existing exposure, hazard or vulnerability.
(c)improving resilience.
"District municipality” means a municipality that has municipal executive and legislative authority in an area that includes more than one municipality, and which is described in section 155 (1) of the Constitution as a category C municipality.
"Early warning” means the provision of timely and effective information, through identified institutions, that allows individuals exposed to a hazard to take action to avoid or reduce their risk and prepare for effective response.
"Ecosystem” means a system of relationships be-tween animals and plants and their environment.
"El Nino-southern oscillation” means A complex interaction of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the global atmosphere that results in irregularly occurring episodes of changed ocean and weather patterns in many parts of the world, often with significant impacts, such as altered marine habitats, rainfall changes, floods, droughts, and changes in storm patterns.
"Emergency management” means the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all aspects of emergencies, in particularly preparedness, response and rehabilitation.
"Emergency preparedness” means—
(a)a state of readiness which enables organs of state and other institutions involved in disaster management, the private sector, communities and individuals to mobilise, organise and provide relief measures to deal with an impending or current disaster or the effects of a disaster; and
(b)the knowledge and capacities developed by governments, professional response and recovery organisations, communities and individuals to effectively anticipate, respond to and recover from the impacts of likely, imminent or current hazard events or conditions.
"Environmental impact assessment” means the studies undertaken in order to assess the effect on a specified environment of the introduction of any new factor, which may upset the current ecological balance.
"Environmental degradation” means the reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet social and ecological objectives and needs.
"Forecast” means a definite statement or statistical estimate of the occurrence of a future event.
"Geological hazard” means the natural earth processes or phenomena that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation.
"Geographical information system” means the analysis that combine relational databases with spatial interpretation and outputs often in form of maps. A more elaborate definition is that of computer programmes for capturing, storing, checking, integrating, analysing and displaying data about the earth that is spatially referenced.
"Hazard analysis” means the identification, studies and monitoring of any hazard to determine its potential, origin, characteristics and behaviour.
"Hydrometeorological hazards” meansthe natural processes or phenomena of atmospheric, hydrological or oceanographic nature, which may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation.
"Incident response”, means actions taken in order to stop the causes of an imminent hazard and/or mitigate the consequences of potentially destabilizing or disruptive events, and to recover to a normal situation.
"Integrated development plan”, in relation to a municipality, means a plan envisaged in section 25 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No. 32 of 2000).
"Local disaster” means a disaster classified as a local disaster in terms of section 23.
"Local municipality” means a municipality that shares municipal executive and legislative authority in its area with a district municipality within whose area it falls, and which is described in section 155 (1) of the Constitution as a category B municipality.
"MEC” means a Member of the Executive Council of a province.
"Metropolitan municipality” means a municipality that has exclusive executive and legislative authority in its area, and which is described in section 155 (1) of the Constitution as a category A municipality.
"Minister” means the Cabinet member designated in terms of section 3 to administer this Act.
"Mitigation”, in relation to—
(a)a disaster or disaster risk, means the lessening of the potential adverse impacts of physical hazards, including those that are human induced, through actions that reduce hazard, exposure and vulnerability; or
(b)climate change, means a human intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.
"Municipal disaster management centre”means a centre established in the administration of a municipality in terms of section 43.
"Municipality” means a municipality as contemplated in section 2 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No. 32 of 2000).
"Municipal legislation” means municipal by-laws.
"Municipal manager / City Manager”means a person appointed as such in terms of section 82 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998).
"Municipal organ of state” means—
(a)a municipality.
(b)a department or other administrative unit with-in the administration of a municipality, including an internal business unit referred to in section 76 (a) (ii) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000; or
(c)a municipal entity.
"National Centre” means the National Disaster Management Centre established by section 8 (1).
"National disaster” means a disaster classified as a national disaster in terms of section 23.
"National disaster management framework” means the national disaster management framework prescribed in terms of section 6.
"National organ of state” means a national department or national public entity defined in section 1 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999).
"Natural hazard” means the natural processes or phenomena occurring in the biosphere that may constitute a damaging event.
"Organ of state” means any organ of state referred to in section 239 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
"post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation” means efforts, including development, aimed at creating a situation where—
(a)normality in conditions caused by a disaster is restored by the restoration, and improvement where appropriate, of facilities, livelihoods and living conditions of disaster-affected communities, including efforts to reduce disaster risk factors.
(b)the effects of a disaster are mitigated; or
(c)circumstances are created that will reduce the risk of a similar disaster occurring.
"Preparedness”means Activities and measures taken in advance to ensure effective response to the impact of hazards, including the issuance of timely and effective early warnings and the temporary evacuation of people and property from threatened locations.
"Prescribe” means prescribe by regulation in terms of section 59.
"Prevention”, in relation to a disaster, means measures aimed at stopping a disaster from occurring or preventing an occurrence from becoming a disaster.
"Provincial disaster” means a disaster classified as a provincial disaster in terms of section 23.
"Provincial disaster management centre” means a centre established in the administration of a province in terms of section 29 (1).
"Provincial organ of state” means a provincial department or provincial public entity defined in section 1 of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999).
"Public awareness” means the processes of informing the general population, increasing levels of consciousness about risks and how people can act to reduce their exposure to hazards. This is particularly important for public officials in fulfilling their responsibilities to save lives and property in the event of a disaster.
"Response",in relation to a disaster, means measures taken during or immediately after a disaster in order to bring relief to people and communities affected by the disaster.
"Recovery” means the decisions and actions taken after a disaster with a view to restoring or improving the pre-disaster living conditions of the stricken community, while encouraging and facilitating necessary adjustments to reduce disaster risk.
"Relief”meansthe provision of assistance or intervention during or immediately after a disaster to meet the life preservation and basic subsistence needs of those people affected. It can be of an immediate, short-term, or protracted duration.
"Risk assessment” means a methodology to determine the nature and extent of risk by analysing potential hazards and evaluating existing conditions of vulnerability that together could potentially harm exposed people, property, services, livelihoods and the environment on which they depend.
"Statutory functionary” means a person performing a function assigned to that person by national, provincial or municipal legislation.
"Technological hazard” means the danger originating from technological or industrial accidents, dangerous procedures, infrastructure failures or certain human activities, which may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and economic disruption or environmental degradation.
"This Act” includes any regulations made in terms of section 59.
"Vulnerability’ means the conditions determined by physical, social, economic and environmental factors or processes, which increase the susceptibility of a community to the impact of hazards.