Church collapse sends a warning for all meetings

From what has emerged from the Lagos church tragedy it is clear that tele-evangelist TB Joshua was totally unprepared to manage this disaster. Ironically it struck on September 12 – only one day after the 9/11 anniversary and nine days before the first anniversary of Nairobi’s Westgate Mall tragedy.

All of these were major man-made disasters in built-up areas.

And again one must ask, were there any contingency plans as is normally required for an organisation this size?

Most countries have laws governing disaster management at national, provincial and local level and Nigeria is no exception. Nigeria’s legislation is similar to ours, with protocols for the many stakeholders involved in emergency preparedness, management and risk mitigation.

Besides the South African Disaster Management Act, we have the Safety at Sport and Recreational Events Act (Act 2 of 2010) promulgated just ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Nigeria on the other hand, does not have any legislation of this nature. If implemented, contingency planning could have prepared the church and the emergency agencies to manage this disaster more effectively and surely with less loss of life.

South Africa’s event management safety laws require safeguards be in place for the physical wellbeing and safety of people and property at sports, recreational, religious, cultural, exhibitions and organisational events at stadiums, venues, or even along a route.

Stadiums and venues must have safety certificates. The numbers of attendees must be estimated along with the associated risks and hazards.

Events are also categorised as either high, medium or low risk. For example, if high profile individuals or foreign VIP guests are expected, the event is categorised as a higher risk, which in turn requires extra safety and security measures.

Experience dictates that the best time to create awareness about safety and security is immediately after an extreme event or disaster.

Wide exposure about a calamity seems to raise the level of political will to ensure it does not happen again.

Nothing will reverse what has happened in Lagos, but surely there is something we can learn from it in managing large scale meetings, including those in Buffalo City.

How prepared are we exactly to ensure the safety of local events.

One of the areas where the organisers of the Southern African Inter-Municipal Sport Association Games were spot on was in their compliance with the rules that say event safety and security plans must be developed and submitted and that safety and security measures must be in place.

This includes applying for a certificate from the National Police Commissioner categorising venues as safe in accordance with the associated safety and security risks at each one. With more than 10000 visitors and sportsmen and women from our own municipalities and five surrounding countries, the Saimsa sport event was a good example of what safety and security preparations should be undertaken.

Many other event organisers in the city do not however, comply with Act 2 of 2010. This raises the question of whether the Lagos disaster and its fatal consequences are a possibility here.

Dr Len Brunyee is a former Pro Vice Chancellor of Walter Sisulu University and is a disaster management specialist