FURTHER ENGAGEMENT ON THE DISASTER MANAGEMENT AMENDMENT BILL Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs 13 May 2015

The purpose of the presentation is to highlight the funding aspects raised by SALGA at the hearings on the Draft Disaster Management Amendment Bill at the Portfolio Committee for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on 22 April 2015.

The assignment of the disaster management functions to all municipalities are supported, and this has been conveyed to COGTA during technical discussion SALGA however, has concerns with regard to the funding of the newly imposed obligations for municipalities. The amendment can only be considered once the financial implications for municipalities are known and addressed, in order to avoid the creation of an unfunded mandate for municipalities.

The legislative assignment of powers and functions to municipalities needs to comply with section 9 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000. The memorandum accompanying the Bill states that: Funds for disaster management activities in municipalities are currently allocated through a number of conditional grants, the equitable share and the own budget of municipalities. Local municipalities may establish a disaster management centre in consultation with the district, in which event an SLA must be entered into.

Assignment of functions must be done in terms of the Systems Act and financial impact assessment study to be done by the FFC and consulted with SALGA and National Treasury. As indicated, the current wording of the Bill already constitutes a legislative assignment and thus the financial impact assessment should have been concluded before introducing the Bill to Parliament. SALGA has not been privy to the said assessment and the lack of compliance is fatal to the Bill at this point in time as the financial impact of the Bill needs to be indicated before the Portfolio Committee can consider it.

As indicated, the memorandum accompanying the Bill does not set out the cost implications for municipalities; it merely states that the funding for the function can be accommodated in the current financial arrangements. The memorandum further indicates that the function is currently funded in part from the equitable share. However, the equitable share does not include any component for disaster management. This has been confirmed by officials in National Treasury. The conditional grants referred to in general cover actual disasters and are not applied for capacity building and the assessments envisaged. A conditional grant is not the appropriate funding source for an assigned function.

SALGA recommendations: The Disaster Management function must be assigned to municipalities in its entirety to enable all municipalities to deal with all aspects of disaster management including the effects of climate change: Provided that the adequate funding mechanisms are provided for in the Bill. Dedicated unconditional funding mechanism focussed on disaster management should be developed for municipalities The equitable share to be reviewed to include an allocation for disaster management, but the total amount paid to all municipalities need to be increased, to ensure that additional funding is provided for the function and that a mere shifting of funding does not take place. In district and local municipalities, the MIG funding should also be allowed to provide for infrastructure and capital expenses related to disaster management. The urban development settlement grant applicable to metros to include an allocation for capital assets for disaster management

THANK YOU…