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The Bill before Parliament to amend the South African Weather Service Act will, if passed in its current form, force a number of important sources of weather information to close down.

A preliminary search by the Democratic Alliance (DA) reveals there are at least 5 international weather sites popular amongst South Africans. These are:

http://www.yr.no
http://www.golfweather.com
http://www.windguru.cz/int/
http://www.wunderground.com/
http://www.weather.com/

They are popular precisely because the official South African Weather Service (SAWS) website (designed and implemented at a cost of R3.7m) does not serve the needs of all users. The frustration of users of the SAWS site is regularly expressed on blogs on the internet.

The problems with the SAWS site force many people who depend on accurate weather forecasts to use other sites, blogs and twitter feeds as their source of weather information. They choose to do so because there are many sources outside the SAWS that are more accurate and helpful for certain data.

A number of local operators provide excellent weather services for customers with specialised needs. For instance, crucial fire danger rating data may be available only from highly localised sources. Farmers need this information at the drop of a hat; it is therefore wrong that these sources may be in danger of breaking the law if they provide the information without permission. That local operators may have commercial interests in providing such services will now be deemed illegal, thanks to the monopolising effects of the Bill.

Many independent organisations utilise the freely available international Noaa GFS system to make their forecasts, including severe weather warnings. The Amendment Bill as it stands would criminalise anyone disseminating this information without permission from SAWS.

Many independent weather forecasters package and interpret the information for clients with unique needs; needs which often are not serviced by the SAWS website’s offerings anyway. So SAWS want to make it difficult for others to offer services that they themselves do not offer.

The Department appears perplexed by the public outcry and claims it has all citizens’ best interests at heart. But the fact remains that the proposals contained in the Bill, whatever the motivation of the Department, will have a range of negative consequences.

Not only will it force some sources of weather information to go out of business, thus limiting consumer choice, but it will make it difficult for independent forecasters to issue a severe weather warning. This will put the lives of our citizens at risk.

Specialised weather services that provide accurate forecasts should be encouraged, not punished. They are very often more accurate than the South African Weather Service itself.

The DA will work to remove the offending clauses in the interests of all South Africans.