Several members of the Middelburg Chamber and various sectors of the business community and the municipality attended the risk meeting. It took place on 27 February 2025 in the STLM council chamber to discuss the municipality’s disaster and risk assessment. 

GIZ undertook to draft risk maps for the municipality and GeoScience also promised to provide a more detailed risk mapping of geographical risks in the region. Risk such as sinkholes, acid mine drainage and earthquakes should be taken into account as well.  The GeoScience representatives said that the municipality should have the 50-year flood line identified. The flood line should form part of their town planning to control settlement in the floodplains. Uncontrolled settlements in floodplains pose a major risk to the municipality in terms of loss of life and resettlement during disasters. 

Other risks include the storage, transport and cleanup of hazardous materials. In some of the risk areas, the various support structures were in place, such as the management of fires outside of Middelburg. It was interesting to find out that there are three different types of veld, and each has its own risk. We have savannah, bushland and large areas of farmland. 

We were warned that the occurrence of severe storms could increase. As various factors influence the storms, it is difficult to predict them. This makes it all the more important for the municipality to have a disaster plan. A good communication network is essential to ensure that the community is aware of any health or environmental risk. 

Although the municipality said it has managed the sewage leakage, there are other factors that could affect our water quality as water from surrounding communities flows through the Steve Tshwete municipality. Other issues discussed were community structures, crime, accidents and lightning strikes. 

MCCI trusts that STLM will take the various risks identified seriously and limit the consequences of disasters to manageable proportions. The business community has co-operated with the municipality in the past during disasters and will continue to do so.