Assessment of the Dynamics towards Effective and Efficient Post-Flood Disaster Adaptive Capacity and Resilience in South Africa

Sindisiwe Nyide (), Mulala Danny Simatele, Stefan Grab and Richard Kwame Adom
Additional contact information
Sindisiwe Nyide: School of Geography, Archaeology, and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Mulala Danny Simatele: School of Geography, Archaeology, and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Stefan Grab: School of Geography, Archaeology, and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
Richard Kwame Adom: School of Geography, Archaeology, and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-25

Abstract: Government employees, municipal officials, and communities in South Africa have grappled with post-apartheid environmental challenges, such as floods, droughts, severe storms, and wildfires. These disasters are a result of both natural and human activities. The government implemented different policies and strategies after 1994 to address these issues. While acknowledging some success in managing these disasters with the current adaptive measures, the frequency and intensity of disasters have increased, causing significant damage to life and property, particularly among the vulnerable population. This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data collection approaches to explore possible systematic and structural weaknesses in addressing post-disaster situations in South Africa. Floods appear to be the most frequent natural disaster in South Africa. The paper uncovered the fact that disaster management is a multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary field. Although various institutional arrangements exist, they do not seem appropriate for assisting vulnerable groups. While officials have made some progress in implementing post-disaster projects, challenges still hinder sustainability. Furthermore, regrettably, despite the level of success in addressing disasters, most measures have failed to achieve the intended results for a variety of reasons. The consolidated long-term measures suggested by the participants yielded a proposed ‘South African Floods Post-Disaster Checklist or Model’, which was non-existent in South Africa. By implementing more effective and efficient post-disaster measures, the proposed tool can help policymakers and strategic partners standardise post-disaster resilience and adaptive capacity in various sectors’ sustainability contexts.

Keywords: disasters; institutional arrangements; model; projects; recovery; vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12719/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/17/12719/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:17:p:12719-:d:1222747

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().