A new bill before Parliament will effectively outlaw weather information that is not provided by the state-owned SA Weather Service. Warn someone that a storm is brewing, and you could go to jail for many years, or pay millions in fines. Has the government gone mad?
Talking about the weather is overrated, it is true. It ought to be discouraged, in favour of talk about more important things like football and sex.
However, the more tedious kinds of small-talk ought not to be illegal. And it certainly shouldn't be illegal on the odd occasion that the talk is about interesting weather and it affects your planning for the day.
A bill (PDF) amending the South African Weather Service Act of 2001 (PDF) includes a new section that proposes penalties of up to ten years in prison, or a R10 million fine, if you issue anything that could be interpreted as a “severe weather-related warning”.
Read the full article by Ivo Vegter in the Daily Maverick by clicking HERE.
- Daily Maverick
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