Simelane: assess disaster risk before you build

Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane has called for disaster risk assessments to be built into housing delivery, warning that badly located developments and weak infrastructure leave families exposed to hazards that could have been foreseen.

Speaking during a panel discussion on risk-informed planning and safer communities at the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction engagement in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, on Wednesday, Simelane said the location and construction of a house are part of the state’s duty to the family that lives in it.

“A home should give a family greater security. If its location or construction exposes that family to foreseeable harm, an essential part of our responsibility remains unfulfilled,” she said.

The engagement was held under the theme “Resilience Starts at Home” and focused on the role of housing delivery and spatial planning in reducing disaster risks.

Simelane said assessments must be conducted before land is acquired and before housing projects are approved, and that they must weigh hazards, site conditions, climate projections and the infrastructure a settlement will need over the long term.

Cheap land carries its own bill, she warned. A low purchase price can prove costly if the site needs extensive flood protection, sits on unstable ground, or cannot be serviced reliably.

She called for land preparation, infrastructure provision and environmental assessments to be coordinated early in project planning, so that delays are avoided and unsuitable sites are not developed in the first place.

Municipal infrastructure, including drainage, water, sanitation, electricity and roads, decides whether a community can withstand a disaster, she said.

“For flood-exposed communities, this means drainage designed for local conditions, functioning culverts, and development that respects waterways. For fire-exposed settlements, it means safe access for emergency vehicles, adequate water for firefighting, safer energy provision and layouts that reduce the spread of fire,” she said.

Those measures must be planned and funded alongside housing projects, with clear responsibility for who maintains and repairs the infrastructure.

On construction quality, the Minister called for appropriate building materials, site-specific specifications and effective inspections to catch defects before homes are occupied.

For people already living in informal settlements, Simelane said government must reduce exposure to hazards while longer-term housing solutions are developed. She pointed to the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme as the framework for turning unsafe and unserviced settlements into habitable, legally secured and sustainable neighbourhoods, through in-situ upgrading or relocation where necessary.

Upgrading can include better drainage, safer access routes and the reorganisation of settlement layouts to create space between structures and improve emergency access.

Where serious risks cannot be adequately addressed on site, relocation may be necessary. In those cases, Simelane said government must consult residents, explain the reasons and provide credible alternative accommodation. Residents must also receive interim protection while land acquisition, approvals and construction continue.

On funding, she said disaster prevention measures must appear in development budgets, and warned that cutting essential infrastructure or site protection costs can lead to greater expenses through displacement, repairs and repeated reconstruction. Housing projects, she said, must be judged on their long-term costs, including maintenance and potential disaster losses, rather than the initial cost per unit alone.

The Human Settlements Development Grant, the Urban Settlements Development Grant and the Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant should be coordinated with municipal infrastructure programmes and disaster risk priorities, in line with their applicable frameworks and approved business plans.

Simelane also called for provincial housing plans, municipal integrated development plans, spatial development frameworks and disaster management plans to identify the same high-risk communities and set out the interventions needed to protect them. Oversight mechanisms, she said, must track whether identified risks were addressed before occupation, whether upgrading projects were reducing exposure, and whether construction defects had been corrected.

Communities hold knowledge that planning often misses, she said, including local flooding patterns, inaccessible routes and households that may need help during evacuations.

“An early warning is useful when people understand what it means and can act on it. Communities need accessible information, safe evacuation arrangements and assistance for people who cannot leave independently. Women, older people, and persons with disabilities must have a meaningful voice in those arrangements,” she said.

Community awareness, she stressed, cannot replace government’s responsibility to provide safe land, functioning services and effective technical oversight.

She further called for national and provincial government to assist municipalities that lack planning and engineering expertise, warning that demanding technical assessments without supplying the capacity to carry them out could leave projects stalled and communities exposed.

The account above follows the official record published by SAnews (South African Government News Agency), which summarises the Minister’s remarks rather than reproducing a full transcript or the underlying assessments. The source is at https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/simelane-calls-disaster-risk-assessments-housing-projects