Storm over weather law

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http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/storm-over-weather-law-1.1211137

A storm is brewing over the government’s bid to severely punish those who issue severe weather warnings without official sanction.

The proposed SA Weather Service Amendment Bill makes it illegal to issue such warnings without written permission from the weather service, and those found guilty could face fines of up to R5 million or five years’ jail.

In the case of a second or subsequent conviction, a fine of up to R10m or 10 years’ jail will apply.

The founder of the SA Weather and Disaster Observation Service (Sawdos), Johan Terblanche, said on its blog that he was concerned about the bill.

Sawdos publishes weather observations from the public.

“As the amendment bill now reads, nobody will be able to issue any warning of approaching severe weather.” He said the body also posted images and video on Twitter, Facebook, their blogs and radio networks to warn the public about severe weather.

He added that obtaining permission to issue a warning “takes time – that is, if you can get hold of the designated person”.

Sawdos would submit written comments on the matter to the portfolio committee at the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs.

“Real-time weather observations are absolutely crucial as people can observe weather phenomena that instruments cannot see,” Terblanche tweeted.

Vaclav Hornik, who runs the WindGuru weather service website based in the Czech Republic, was shocked at the development.

“I do not know what the practices are in SA (but) my personal opinion is that this is unbelievable… it’s like it was here during the communist regime. Freedom of speech punished? It’s a nightmare.”

Chief director of communications at the Department of Environmental Affairs Albi Modise said the bill was aimed at protecting the public against the distribution of inaccurate or hoax warnings or predictions.

“(These) could cause public panic and lead to evacuations and/or the unwarranted waste of resources (money, people and technology). Once the bill is passed, the government will be able to act against people who wittingly or unwittingly issue warnings based on false or misleading information that effectively cause public harm.”

On Twitter, re-tweeting an SA Weather Service severe weather or air pollution-related warning would not be considered a contravention of the bill.

“

However... a Tweet that provides an unauthorised warning based on false or misleading information that gives rise to, or may give rise to, unwarranted public panic and reaction (evacuations, unnecessary mobilisation of emergency services) will be considered a contravention… as would a re-tweet of such a ‘hoax’.”

The SABC’s former weather man, environmental scientist Simon Gear, said that while he understood the concern to prevent people from spreading panic through misinformation, he also understood the need to warn people of impending disaster.

“Four years ago rumours flew around that tornadoes would strike Johannesburg – nothing happened.

“I don’t see what prosecuting the people or group responsible would achieve – they were genuinely trying to warn people.”

Interested parties can submit written comments to the department not later than tomorrow, with public hearings scheduled for January 17 and 18. - Cape Argus
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Mandatory comment: Is this real life :wtf:
 
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. Weathersa is practically useless so I have always relied on other sites to get updates on severe weather.
 
Er... how exactly will you track down these "miscreants" on Twitter - which is anonymous?
 
And people think giving governments MORE power will solve anything. lolz
 
“As the amendment bill now reads, nobody will be able to issue any warning of approaching severe weather.”
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So now we can be fined when phoning/texting each other with news of approaching bad weather & possible traffic problems?

Sensitivity of gov't towards that contant dripping on The Corrupt One's head perhaps?
 
Useless idiots........they can't even "predict" the weather correctly for the last 40 years and now they want to try this BS?

So if I post on FB "Huge storm approaching Pretoria." will they try and prosecute me? Good luck with that.
 
About time they cracked down on this!

This has always been a real problem in SA and has resulted in.... what kind of harm actually? :confused:
 
Further down the spiral goes SA ...... lots of ostriches seem to be popping up too.
 
Please give these ministers something to do, clearly they have too much free time on their hands.
 
evilstebunny said:
So now we can be fined when phoning/texting each other with news of approaching bad weather & possible traffic problems?

Sensitivity of gov't towards that contant dripping on The Corrupt One's head perhaps?
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Nope, you would be an idiot to pay this fine. This amendment would never stand up in court
 
"What's the weather like there?"

I am afraid that I cannot answer that but I can tell you that my umbrella is very wet and inside out, and the ducks are happy.
 
This report actually reminds me of this "joke?".

Two brothers, John, and Bob, who lived in America and were members of the communist party, decided to emigrate to the USSR. Even though they didn't believe the American media's negative reports on the conditions in the USSR, they decided to exercise caution. First, only John would go to Russia to test the waters. If, contrary to the media reports, the living conditions would be found good, and the reports about persecutions by the KGB false, than John would write a letter to Bob using black ink whose color would signify that the letter is to be taken at face value. If, though, the situation in the USSR happened to be bad, and John would be afraid of writing the truth, he would use red ink thus indicating that whatever he says in the letter must not be believed.

In three months John sent his first report. It was in black ink and read, "Dear brother Bob! I'm so happy here! It's a beautiful country, I enjoy complete freedom, and high standard of living. All the capitalist press wrote was lies. Everything is readily available! There is only one small thing of which there's shortage, namely red ink."
 
This is just one step closer towards Billy's little joke... the new North Korea = South Africa
 
Chief director of communications at the Department of Environmental Affairs Albi Modise said the bill was aimed at protecting the public against the distribution of inaccurate or hoax warnings or predictions.

“(These) could cause public panic and lead to evacuations and/or the unwarranted waste of resources (money, people and technology). Once the bill is passed, the government will be able to act against people who wittingly or unwittingly issue warnings based on false or misleading information that effectively cause public harm.”
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IPCC please take note.
 
This just proves that the country is being run by a bunch of clowns that have absolutely no brains and no clue of what they are doing!!!! Good riddance SA, what are you becoming
 
So what happens if CNN etc issues a cyclone warning for the east coast of SA, they gonna sue them?
 
ponder said:
So what happens if CNN etc issues a cyclone warning for the east coast of SA, they gonna sue them?
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Sue is not the right word here imo, as that would mean it was a civil case. Rather, once signed into law, anyone that breaks this act can be prosecuted. In this case though CNN is safe as they are not subject to SA law.
 
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