| (a) | publish, disseminate or distribute in any manner whatsoever any severe weather warning which he or she knows, believes or ought to have reasonably known or suspected— |
| (i) | to be false or misleading; or |
| (ii) | may incite public reaction which may lead to the undue mobilisation of resources, public alarm or evacuations, or economic loss arising from such actions; or |
| (b) | impersonate or falsely represent himself or herself to be an employee of the Weather Service or purport to act on behalf of the Weather Service; or |
| (c) | use official corporate branding from the Weather Service , or corporate branding closely resembling that of the Weather Service, such that it will be difficult for a reasonable person to distinguish between the original and resembling version, with the intention to deceive a member of the public into believing that the document or message presented or disseminated is an official document or message originating from the the Weather Service. |
| (1A) | Whenever a person lays a criminal charge relating to an incident contemplated in subsection (1)(a), the Director of Public Prosecutions who has jurisdiction in the area where the incident occurred, must take the decision whether to institute criminal proceedings on behalf of the State. |
| (2) | A person who contravenes any provision of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable, in the case of a first conviction, to a fine not exceeding five million rand or imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding ten million rand or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 years, or in both instances to both such fine and such imprisonment, respectively. |
| (3) | Whenever any person is convicted of an offence under subsection (2) and it appears that such person has by that offence caused loss or damage to any organ of state or other person, the court may in the same proceedings at the written request of the Minister, another organ of state or other person concerned, and in the presence of the convicted person— |
| (a) | inquire summarily and without pleadings into the amount of the loss or damage so caused; and |
| (b) | upon proof of such amount, the court may give judgment therefore in favour of the organ of state or other person concerned against the convicted person, and such judgment shall be of the same force and effect and be executable in the same manner as if it had been given in a civil action duly instituted before a competent court. |
| (4) | Whenever any person is convicted of an offence under subsection (2), the court convicting such person may summarily enquire into and assess the monetary value of any advantage gained or likely to be gained by such person in consequence of that offence, and, in the addition to any other punishment imposed in respect of that offence, the court may order— |
| (a) | the award of damages, compensation or a fine equal to the amount so assessed; or |
| (b) | that such remedial measures as the court may determine must be undertaken by the convicted person. |
| (5) | Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other law, a Magistrate's court shall have the jurisdiction to impose any penalty or any other sanction in terms of this Act. |
[Section 30A inserted by section 15 of Act No. 48 of 2013]
