Research Articles (Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC))

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Browsing Research Articles (Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC)) by Subject "Disaster communication"

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    A South African disaster legislative perspective of information management and communication systems
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2022) Kunguma, Olivia
    𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱: Establishing a disaster information management and communication system (IMCS) is a mandate of the South African National Disaster Management Framework of 2005 (NDMF). The inception of such systems is supposed to be at the initial set-up of disaster management centres. The comprehensive functioning of a disaster centre will require an interoperable system that can collect, process, store and disseminate data. The lack of such a system might result in poor disaster risk reduction (DRR) and ineffective response. 𝗢𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: This article identified and described IMCSs from the South African disaster policy perspective. 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀: Qualitative in-depth interviews were used to investigate the status quo of all nine provincial disaster management centres (PDMCs) regarding the existence, functioning and understanding of IMCSs. The NDMF informed the interview questions administered to 29 purposively selected participants. Themes from descriptions by informants were used to analyse the data. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: All the centres operating for more than 10 years lack integrated IMCSs. The disaster managers perceive IMCSs as more information technology, computers and other physical devices and less human input systems and governance capabilities. The lack of integrated and well-governed disaster information and communication affects disaster management operations and service delivery mandate. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: To date, no studies have explored the establishment and management of interoperable IMCSs in disaster management centres. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature on disaster information and communication discourse and practical contributions to improve the capacity of PDMCs. This article provides insight into the significance of IMCS for building resilient communities and recommendations for establishing and maintaining the systems.
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    Investigating the prevention and mitigatory role of risk communication in the COVID-19 pandemic: a case study of Bloemfontein, South Africa
    (AOSIS, 2021) Kunguma, Olivia; Mokhele, Mosekama O.; Coetzee, Mercia
    The South African disaster response activities surpass risk reduction since the implementation of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (DMA) and the National Disaster Management Framework of 2005 (NDMF). Risk reduction, in particular risk communication, remained unexploited until the occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The legislation and policy mandate a proactive approach for disaster management, requiring a focus on disaster risk reduction. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the significance of risk communication as a critical prevention and mitigatory strategy in disaster risk management, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic. Key to risk communication success is ensuring adequate comprehension, accurate perception of the disseminated information, and compliance with regulations. Questions of trustworthiness, acceptability, effectiveness, and usefulness of messages and strategies communicated sought answers from the Bloemfontein population. Furthermore, the Agenda-setting Theory provided the grounding for the study. The study sample was picked in a stratified random sampling manner, using the confidence level and margin of error equation. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data required to achieve the research objectives. Risk communication as a disaster risk reduction strategy implemented concurrently with imposed regulations was found to have played a vital role in mitigating the virus spread. However, the respondents were not aware of the local disaster management centre, which is supposed to be engaged in COVID-19 disaster management activities.