26 January 2000
On Friday 21 January 2000, the Department of Provincial and Local Government published a new bill on disaster management for public comment (Government Gazette No.20814, General Notice No.285 of 2000).
The Bill will replace the existing Civil Protection Act (ACT 87 of 1977) and all existing Disaster Management legislation. The Bill flows from the White Paper on Disaster Management (1999), which sets out the new pre-disaster risk reduction approach which emphasises the prevention of disasters, preparedness for possible disasters and the mitigation of the consequences of a disaster without neglecting post-disaster recovery.
Comments on the Bill will be received until 18 February 2000, whereafter a team of legal and disaster management experts will consider the comments and make the necessary amendments. The Bill will then be submitted to Cabinet for final ratification before being tabled before Parliament by Minister F S Mufamadj, Minister for Provincial and Local Government, before the end of April 2000.
For more information please contact:
Mr L Buys at (012) 334 0727 or 082 572 9353
Issued by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), Pretoria, 26 January 2000