South African general insurer Santam has partnered with the South African Weather Service (SAWS) to boost the country’s early warning and weather forecasting systems with nine new automatic weather stations now operating across the country.
The partnership comes as South Africa faces a growing wave of floods, storms and fires that are becoming more frequent, severe and far more costly. The 2022 KwaZulu-Natal floods alone are estimated to have caused over R50 billion in damages, a figure that underscores just how high the stakes have become.
“Disasters are happening more often and are costing more,” said Santam Group CEO Tavaziva Madzinga. “Simply put, early warning enables early action. If people delay travel, secure property, move vehicles or protect agricultural assets based on credible early warnings, exposure is reduced and losses are minimised.”
The nine automatic weather stations (AWSs), sponsored by Santam, are already integrated into the SAWS observation network and providing live weather data.
Four stations in Limpopo and Mpumalanga were piloted during 2021 and 2022, while five additional stations have recently been commissioned in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, and Gauteng.
The locations were not chosen at random. The SAWS led a needs-driven process to identify areas with known observational gaps and high exposure to severe weather. The eastern seaboard — stretching from the Eastern Cape through KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and into north-eastern Limpopo — has seen repeated episodes of extreme rainfall in recent years, while additional gaps were flagged in parts of the Western Cape and Gauteng.
“The SAWS is the only entity mandated to issue severe weather-related warnings over South Africa,” said Madzinga. “By strengthening its observation and forecasting capabilities, we are helping to ensure that early warnings are accessible, credible and localised, so that South Africans can act before weather hazards escalate into disasters.”
SAWS acting CEO Dr Jonas Mphepya welcomed the new stations as a meaningful addition to an already substantial network.
“Currently, our network boasts 273 AWSs, 211 automatic rainfall stations, 26 lightning detection network sensors, 25 climate stations and 12 meteorological radar systems, among other things. In a time of frequent and intensifying severe weather events, the importance of reinforcing our observational infrastructure, which is the bedrock of our weather and climate services, cannot be overemphasised.”
Dr Mphepya described the collaboration as a prime example of what public-private partnerships can achieve when aligned around a shared public good.
Despite South Africa’s existing infrastructure, significant observational gaps remain across parts of the country — gaps that early warning systems are specifically designed to address. Far from being a luxury, those systems are widely regarded as cost-effective tools that save lives and reduce economic losses.
“This collaboration allows us to do more and reach further,” said Madzinga. “By strengthening early warning systems, we are saving lives and helping South Africans avoid preventable loss by building greater resilience to extreme weather.”
The partnership is anchored in South Africa’s commitments under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030), which calls for substantially greater access to multi-hazard early warning systems. It also aligns with the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All initiative, which aims to ensure that every person on Earth is protected through an early warning system by 2027.
