In response to government's declaration of a national disaster following torrential rains, widespread flooding and wildfires in parts of the country, industry organisation Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) CEO Chris Campbell says its members have the specialised engineering expertise to support recovery and rebuilding efforts, working in partnership with government and relevant stakeholders through appropriate and established processes.

The severe weather in recent weeks has claimed at least 30 lives, primarily in the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.

The declaration of a national disaster enables a coordinated response to the floods that have damaged thousands of homes, washed away roads and bridges and caused extensive environmental and infrastructure harm in these provinces, as well as KwaZulu-Natal.

The declaration also acknowledges ongoing challenges such as wildfires in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces, as well as in the Free State and other severe weather impacts, such as the drought in Knysna in the Western Cape.

Through a partnership between the public and private sector, South Africa can accelerate the repair process, Campbell says.

Engineers are essential in supporting the recovery, and can help implement effective flood management strategies, such as advanced stormwater systems, riverbank reinforcements and early-warning technologies, and ensure rebuilding is correctly done.

The floods, which forced evacuations including at the Kruger National Park, highlighted vulnerabilities in the country's built environment and underscores the urgent need for a proactive, resilient approach to infrastructure design and maintenance, says Campbell.

Cesa members can help to provide climate-adaptive solutions that protect lives, livelihoods and the economy. These should also inform thinking when identifying geographic regions that may be prone to frequent climatic events and where infrastructure systems are not likely to absorb the impact of such events, he notes.

Additionally, these insights could inform disaster management agencies to better position them proactively to respond to extreme situations with the appropriate resources, he adds.

“South Africa needs a unified, data-driven life-cycle approach to infrastructure that brings together engineers, government and communities. This needs to include all existing risk areas, including rural and urban areas.

“We need to incorporate climate-adapted engineering standards into all new projects and identify areas that are already developed, but remain at risk of being severely impacted, should the infrastructure not be upgraded in the near future,” he says.

Standard maintenance practices, such as maintaining stormwater systems in urban areas, mitigate such risk. Meanwhile, the eradication of alien vegetation in rural and semi-rural areas in pursuit of water augmentation efforts, with many species burning hotter and longer than indigenous vegetation, exacerbates risk.

These are some of the considerations to heed, he adds.

Further, reconstruction efforts must follow transparent, quality-based procurement processes to deliver safe, durable infrastructure, and not provide quick fixes that risk inefficiency or further failure, he emphasises.

Similarly, disaster relief funding needs to be managed with strong oversight to ensure funds are exclusively directed and used for disaster relief programmes and projects, and which cost what they should and are not artificially inflated to benefit those with nefarious intentions, he says.