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Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002)Chapter 1 : Interpretation, Application and Administration of Act1. Definitions |
In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—
"adaptation"
means—
| (a) | in relation to human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities; and |
| (b) | in relation to natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; |
[Definition inserted by section 1(a) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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;
[Definition inserted by section 1(a) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"Department"
means the principal department that supports the Cabinet member referred to in section 3;
[Definition substituted by section 1(b) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"disaster"
means a progressive or sudden, widespread or localised, natural or human-caused occurrence which—
| (a) | causes or threatens to cause— |
| (i) | death, or disease; |
| (ii) | damage to property, infrastructure or the environment; or |
| (iii) | significant disruption of the life of a community; |
| (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; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(c) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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 |
| (e) | post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation; |
"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; and |
| (c) | improving resilience; |
[Definition inserted by section 1(d) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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
"ecosystem"
means a system of relationships between animals and plants and their environment;
[Definition inserted by section 1(e) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(f) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(g) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"municipal disaster management centre"
means a centre established in the administration of a municipality in terms of section 43;
"municipal entity"
means a municipal entity defined in section 1 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000;
"municipality"
means a municipality as contemplated in section 2 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No. 32 of 2000);
[Definition inserted by section 1(h) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"municipal legislation"
means municipal by-laws;
"municipal 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 within 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)
"organ of state"
means any organ of state referred to in section 239 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996;
[Definition substituted by section 1(i) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(j) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"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);
"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;
"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;
[Definition inserted by section 1(k) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
"statutory functionary"
means a person performing a function assigned to that person by national, provincial or municipal legislation;
"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.
[Definition substituted by section 1(l) of Act No. 16 of 2015]
