South Africa's COVID-19 Response: A Lesson in Legislative Limits

Having a roadmap to deal with disasters, like having a DRM legislation in place, but then a real disaster like COVID-19 hits and you find out your map has a few missing roads. That's where South Africa's experience during the pandemic can teach us a lot. Since 2002, the country has been praised for its progressive disaster risk management (DRM) legislation. It's designed to help manage disasters effectively. But COVID-19 showed that even the best plans have some holes. A study looked at 49 different sources, like reports and articles, and found that the current setup has some big issues. For instance, the National Disaster Management Centre's position might not be ideal, and new structures created to handle COVID-19 might not be as effective as they should be. It's not all doom and gloom, though. This is a chance to improve. The people who actually implement these plans, like disaster managers, should push for regular reviews of the legislation. This could help minimize the negative effects of disasters – not just pandemics, but all kinds.