Informal settlements are often located in flood plains, and their lack of resources and formal spatial planning make them highly vulnerable to crises, particularly flooding and fires. The civil society response to the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated that civil society organisations can play a significant role in responding independently of government in alleviating the effects of a crisis. The value of community mobilisation was demonstrated in the form of Community Action Networks (CANs) and lessons can be drawn from the civil society response to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and applied to responses aimed at easing the impact of disasters, such as flooding or fires, in informal settlements.

The pandemic regulations highlighted the need for residents to play their part in responding to disaster, not only by adhering to lockdown regulations but also by curbing the effects that the lockdown brought about. This manifested in the form of CANs and similar initiatives across the country. In the Western Cape, these initiatives contributed towards raising around half of the food aid delivered at the time, which played a crucial role as the government decreased food distribution during the crisis. These actions showed how community mobilisation can mitigate the effects of a crisis, especially when it comes to informal settlements or poor communities as they suffer the most during such periods.

Close cooperation between civil society organisations and government in disaster response is necessary, as was evident when a flood in February 2023 led to the displacement of 1,000 residents of Silvertown, an informal settlement in Komani in the Eastern Cape. The municipality’s role in mitigating the crisis was assisted by organisations such as Muslim Hands, Food Forward SA, as well as local businesses. The organisations assisted in providing accommodation and food parcels, and supported the displaced community while they were temporarily moved to a community hall. Similarly, after a fire in Kayamandi in Stellenbosch, the organisation Gift of the Givers supported the affected informal settlement residents.

However, there is an opportunity to embed community-driven initiatives focused on assisting with the effects of floods or fires in informal settlements, building on the lessons from the CANs. CANs created during the COVID-19 pandemic brought together concerned (extra-)ordinary residents from different backgrounds and contexts to respond to socio-economic challenges created or exacerbated by the pandemic, such as hunger and food insecurity. CANs evolved to cover other community concerns, including offering co-learning sessions on issues such as how to apply for COVID-19 relief grants. In addition to unlocking financial and emergency support, the equivalent of CANs focused on disasters in informal settlements can provide residents with information on how to prevent or mitigate disasters, where to seek help and how to rebuild after fires or floods. These CANs can also be vital in building much-needed solidarity networks across socio-economic divides.

Local government, rather than informal settlement communities, should be the first line of response in addressing disasters. Furthermore, municipalities can proactively do more to reduce disaster risk by initiating development plans like re-blocking to limit fire hazards, with the concomitant meaningful community engagement that this requires. However, municipalities are often characterised by insufficient capacity, limited funding and an extensive scope of responsibility. This highlights the importance of partnering with other role players, including civil society stakeholders, to reduce disaster risk, strengthen resilience and provide coordinated responses. While an effective and coordinated disaster response is critical, the primary imperative is to upgrade informal settlements as a preventative measure to avoid recurrent disasters in informal settlements. Unlike other crises such as COVID-19, fires or floods in informal settlements are recurring, and therefore prevention is better – and ultimately less costly – than having to respond to a crisis.