The Covid-19 pandemic saw a significant increase in the allocation of CSI spend to disaster relief. This was exacerbated by the July 2021 riots in KwaZulu-Natal. Disaster relief was supported by 71% of companies and received 8% of average CSI expenditure in 2022, significantly up from 38% of companies and 5% of CSI spend in 2011.
Type of intervention
- Most disaster relief spend (70%) was allocated to emergency response.
- Preventative measures received 15% of average disaster relief spend, and spend on rebuilding disaster-affected communities increased to 10% in 2022, from 3% in 2021. This could be attributed to the flooding and riots that occurred in KwaZulu- Natal, although flood relief spend would not have been included in most of the reporting that this data represents, and so we should anticipate higher rebuilding expenditure in 2023.
Types of disaster supported
- Just over half of the average CSI spend on disaster relief was allocated to Covid-19 pandemic support (56%). It continues to receive the largest portion of disaster relief expenditure (up from 40% in 2020).
- Nearly a fifth of the funding for disaster relief was apportioned to flooding, likely accounting for those companies where the KwaZulu-Natal floods are included in the 2022 reporting period.
The changing disaster relief landscape in South Africa
– Three tornadoes were reported during the 1998/1999 summer season. In January an F4 tornado left 95% of residents in Tabankulu and Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape homeless. Vehicles were flung as far as 500 metres and more than 20 people died in the disaster.
– The South African Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002) was promulgated. It focused on preventing or reducing the risk of disasters, mitigating the severity of disasters, emergency preparedness, rapid and effective response to disasters and post-disaster recovery. It also oversaw the establishment of national, provincial and municipal disaster management centres.
– The National Disaster Management Policy Framework, a legal instrument specified by the Disaster Management Act, 2002, was established to provide a coherent, transparent and inclusive policy on disaster management. It recognised the numerous opportunities to avoid and reduce disaster losses through the concerted efforts of all relevant stakeholders.
– The Drought Management Plan was passed in 2005 with the aim of developing an effective and integrated risk and disaster management system to minimise the impacts of drought.
– The National Disaster Management Policy Framework, a legal instrument specified by the Disaster Management Act, 2002, was established to provide a coherent, transparent and inclusive policy on disaster management. It recognised the numerous opportunities to avoid and reduce disaster losses through the concerted efforts of all relevant stakeholders. – The Drought Management Plan was passed in 2005 with the aim of developing an effective and integrated risk and disaster management system to minimise the impacts of drought.
– Drought was declared a national disaster in March 2018, negatively affecting food security and bringing Cape Town close to Day Zero.
– The Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System classified the drought as a level 2 event from August 2019 to December 2019, and again in September 2020.
– About 37% of South Africa’s rural community was affected by the drought, considered the worst in the past 100 years.
– The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic on 11 March 2020. In South Africa a national state of disaster was declared on 15 March 2020, in response to the WHO’s declaration.
– Drought was again declared a national disaster on 4 March 2020.
– In April, the government announced a R500 billion economic stimulus package, 10% of the country’s GDP, to direct resources towards fighting the Covid-19 global pandemic.
– In the wake of the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma in July, riots broke out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. This resulted in R32 billion in damages and an estimated total cost to the economy in the region of R50 billion.
– In April 2022, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster following widespread flooding in KwaZulu-Natal on 11 and 12 April. According to ReliefWeb, 448 people lost their lives during the floods, with 40 000 people displaced and more than 12 000 houses destroyed. – Also in April 2022, the Covid-19 national state of disaster was ended after 750 days. By October 2022, over 102 000 people had officially died of Covid-19-related complications in South Africa, with over 6.5 million deaths worldwide.
– The Mo Ibrahim Foundation reported that South Africa recorded 33 disaster events in 12 years – the most out of all African countries. South Africa has been most affected by flooding, followed by other events like storms, drought, wildfires and extreme temperatures.