SAWDOS received the following question: What do you think is the motivation behind the Amendment Bill?

I can only speculate on this and I do not like doing it but since the SA Weather Service chose the commercial route, radar images are no more freely available to the general public as before. Radar images is a valueble resource which is used to monitor thunderstorms for severity (intensity), direction and movement. The public must now pay a subsription fee to be able to monitor and track severe thunderstorms via radar images although the radar stations were funded by taxpayers money. Another commercial venture by the SAWS is the SMS unusual weather and storm warnings subsciption service. The real time storm warning subscription service from the SAWS send SMS messages of storm warnings to paid subscribers. If you cannot afford this service your do not receive any real time storm warnings. Only the privilaged can afford to subscribe for any weather information. The poor who suffers the most are left to fend for themselves. It is my personal opinion that the subscription services is hampered by the issueing of real time warnings by others as all weather information from the public are free of charge and available to who ever needs the information. The SAWDOS renders a free service by the Public for the Public.