Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002)Chapter 3 : National Disaster ManagementPart 1 : National Disaster Management CentrePowers and duties of National Centre17. Disaster management information system |
| (1) | The National Centre must act as a repository of, and conduit for, information concerning disasters and disaster management, and, must for this purpose— |
| (a) | collect information on all aspects of disasters and disaster management; |
| (b) | process and analyse such information; |
| (c) | develop and maintain an electronic database envisaged in subsection (3); and |
| (d) | take steps to disseminate such information, especially to communities that are vulnerable to disasters. |
| (2) | The electronic database developed by the National Centre must contain extensive information concerning disasters that occur or may occur in southern Africa and disaster management issues, including information on— |
| (a) | phenomena, occurrences, activities and circumstances that cause or aggravate disasters; |
| (b) | risk factors underlying disasters and ways and means to reduce such risks; |
| (c) | recurring occurrences that result in loss, but which are not classified as disasters in terms of this Act; |
| (d) | prevention and mitigation; |
| (e) | early warning systems; |
| (f) | areas and communities that are particularly vulnerable to disasters; |
| (g) | indigenous knowledge relating to disaster management; |
| (h) | the directory of role-players referred to in section 16 and the names and particulars of their respective contact persons; |
| (i) | emergency response resources and capacity in the national, provincial and local spheres of government and in the non-government sectors, including the location and size of, and other relevant information relating to— |
| (i) | police stations; |
| (ii) | hospitals, clinics and other health institutions |
| (iii) | emergency medical services; |
| (iv) | school, church and public buildings and other facilities that could be used as emergency shelters or hospitals in the event of a disaster; |
| (v) | fire-fighting services; and |
| (vi) | airports, airstrips, harbours, seaports and railway stations; |
| (j) | emergency response resources and capacity in neighbouring states and relevant international relief agencies; |
| (k) | emergency preparedness in the different spheres of government; |
| (l) | each disaster classified by the National Centre in terms of section 23 including the assessment of the National Centre of the disaster and the information recorded in the register referred to in subsection (1)(c) of that section; and |
| (m) | research and training facilities for disaster management disciplines. |
| (3) | The National Centre must take reasonable steps to ensure that the database is electronically accessible to any person free of charge. |
| (4) | Subsection (3) does not prevent the National Centre from— |
| (a) | establishing security safeguards to protect the database from abuse; and |
| (b) | classifying parts of the database as restricted areas in consultation with the Minister, and limiting access to those parts to persons authorised by the Minister. |