Challenges to disaster risk reduction: A study of stake- holders’ perspectives in Imizamo Yethu, South Africa

South Africa is a dynamic developing country in a challenging transition. The economic purchasing power per person increased more than 173 percent in the first 15 years after Apartheid (World Bank, 2010), while the Human Development Index (HDI) is more or less unchanged since then (UNDP, 2011). South Africa is thus not only one of a few countries in the world that has not experienced human development in this period (Khandlhela & May, 2006), but this also indicates an overall deterioration in the non-economic indicators of HDI. Next to the mounting impact of HIV/AIDS on life expectancy, this deterioration is mainly caused by policies making a minor part of the population increasingly rich, while the majority becomes increasingly poor. This inequality has obvious roots in Apartheid, but it is important to note that it has been growing ever since. It is in this context that South Africa is struggling to protect life and health, property, infrastructure and the environment from disasters.