Adaptive capacity to reduce disaster risks in informal settlements
Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Adaptive capacity to reduce disaster risks in informal settlements | |
| Creator | Ndabezitha, Khulekani E. Mubangizi, Betty C. John, Sokfa F. | |
| Description | The eMalahleni Local Municipality (eLM) in Mpumalanga province, South Africa, has a number of informal settlements because of the influx of people seeking employment in the municipal area. These informal settlements are exposed to a number of hazards, including underground fires, air and water pollution, sinkholes, abandoned mining areas and acid mining drainage. South Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) incorporates the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, which are intended to upgrade informal settlements on suitable land. The Department of Human Settlement recognised the gap in the policy because upgrading only included physical structures and did not include adaptive capacity for communities to create resilience to withstand disasters. The researcher used a case study research design for the inquiry intended to recommend adaptive capacity and reduce disaster risks in informal settlements in the eLM. Purposive sampling was used to select 25 participants from eLM, provincial government departments and informal settlements. The data were analysed using thematic analysis based on the study’s conceptual framework. The research findings revealed that the government has not done much to involve vulnerable communities during the development of policies to reduce disaster risks within informal settlements. In particular, the failure of the government to promote and reinforce public participation in disaster risk reduction programmes leaves the vulnerable communities defenceless.Contribution: This study strengthens the intergovernmental structures and public participation to reduce disaster risks in communities. This study discourages a silos mentality and encourages coordination between government departments to identify root causes by applying the pressure and release model for effective disaster risk reduction. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2024-06-07 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/jamba.v16i1.1488 | |
| Source | Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies; Vol 16, No 1 (2024); 10 pages 1996-1421 2072-845X | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1488/2974
https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1488/2975
https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1488/2976
https://jamba.org.za/index.php/jamba/article/view/1488/2977
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