ABSTRACT
The purpose of this section is to analyse the activities that took place during the April disaster in South Africa. These events claimed the lives of more than 500 people and left around 130,000 injured. At the time, a National State of Disaster was declared after three days of torrential rains that caused one of the deadliest natural hazards in South Africa’s recent history. The activities of international emergency mechanisms, in particular non-governmental organisations, governmental, and international organisations (the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, government, the South African Red Cross Society, and the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) were analysed, taking into account their respective strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats complemented by DEEPLIST. This enabled not only the identification of the disaster environment, but also the creation of a catalogue of variables affecting success or difficulties during the activation and operation of the mechanisms. In relation to the need for disaster risk reduction activities, the importance of strengthening local capacities not only to recover safely and with dignity, but also to strengthen their resilience to future shocks, was highlighted, taking into account local risks, resources, and measures that include indigenous knowledge systems in specific cultural contexts.
