The South African Weather Service Amendment Bill

The amendments to the South African Weather Service Bill, that threaten independent forecasters with penalties for issuing severe weather warnings, have brought with it a tsunami of comments from many sectors of society, with many labeling the changes as being too “severe”, or “draconian”.

If the bill is passed in its current form, it may have a range of undesirable consequences, ultimately making businesses as well as the general public less safe.

Some of the existing provisions inspiring the most contention are the following:

• The bill makes it illegal for someone to issue warnings about severe weather or air pollution without written permission from the National Weather Service, but fails to define what is envisaged by the terms “severe weather event”;

• The bill introduces penalties for those who “supply false or misleading information about the Weather Service”, or for any act or omission “which detrimentally affects or is likely to detrimentally affect the Weather Service”;

• The bill limits the liability of the Weather Service for any damage, loss or injury caused by its actions, but also allows a Court to compensate the Weather Service for any monetary advantage an accused has gained by committing a listed offence; and

• First-time offenders could face up to five years in prison or a R5 million fine, while subsequent offenders could face a maximum of 10 years imprisonment or a fine of R10 million.

It is quite evident that the above-mentioned provisions have the potential to impact greatly on a variety of businesses, organisations and even internet websites.

Although the bill may have been drafted with good intent, it seems that the proposed amendments may actually limit access to weather and air pollution-related information that would be in the interest of the general public’s health, safety and well-being.

However, with the positive response by the Department of Environmental Affairs to all the criticism, I’m certain that South Africa will once again be able to weather the storm.