Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002)

Notices

Classification of a Provincial Disaster in terms of Section 23 of the Act: Life Safety Impact of Sinkholes in the Merafong City Local Municipality

Notice No. 6480 of 2025
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Notice No. 6480

4 August 2025

GG 53108

Department of Co-operative Governance

 

I, Dr Elias Sithole, in my capacity as the Head of the National Disaster Management Centre, after having reconsidered previous reports submitted on sinkholes in the Merafong City Local Municipality and the updated reports provided by organs of state and the proposals made by the head of the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Centre, and after assessing the potential magnitude and severity of sinkholes that formed in the Gauteng province, and considering the potential life safety risk some sinkholes pose to people living in the high risk areas identified in the Council for Geoscience report, that may be exposed to sinkholes or those that may still form in that area of the Merafong City Local Municipality, which may also cause damage to property, infrastructure and the environment, as well as the potential disruption of basic services, I hereby give notice that in terms of Section 1 of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002), I regard the immediate life safety impact posed by the sinkholes as a potential disaster and hereby, in terms of Section 23(1)(b) of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002), I classify the disaster as a provincial disaster.

 

Emanating from the classification, in terms of section 40, read with section 23 of the Act, the primary responsibility to coordinate and manage this provincial disaster, in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements, is designated to the Provincial Executive.

 

I hereby—

(i) in terms of Section 15(2)(aA) of the Act, read with section 23(8), call upon organs of state to further strengthen their support to the existing structures to implement their contingency arrangements and to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to enable the Provincial Executive to effectively deal with the effects of this provincial disaster.

 

(ii) in terms of Section 22(a) of the Act, read with Sections 39(1)(c), 39(2)(k), 53(1)(c) and 53(2)(k) of the Act, recommend that the Provincial Executive and the respective Councils, implement a multisectoral relief and rehabilitation plan to deal with the effects of the provincial disaster,

 

(iii) in terms of Section 22(a) of the Act, read with Section 21(a)(ii), recommend that each organ of state prepare and submit progress reports, in line with the requirements of the National Disaster Management Centre, to monitor the response initiatives by organs of state, non-governmental organisations and communities.

 

Furthermore, all affected organs of state must prepare and submit reports, as required by the National Disaster Management Centre as outlined in section 24(4) - (8) of the Act.

 

The revocation of the classification is set out in the schedule hereto.

 

 

Dr Elias Sithole

Head: National Disaster Management Centre

Date: 30/07/2025

 

Schedule

 

The Provincial Executive dealt with the provincial disaster in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements without declaring a Provincial state of disaster in terms of section 41(1) of the Act.

The classification is revoked by the Head: National Disaster Management Centre when the occurrence can no longer be regarded as a disaster in terms of the Act upon reassessment by the National Disaster Management Centre.

The Provincial Executive dealt with the provincial disaster in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements as augmented by regulations and / or directions following the declaration of a provincial state of disaster in terms of section 41(2).

The classification of a provincial disaster is automatically revoked when the provincial state of disaster is terminated or lapses in terms of section 41(5) of the Act.