Weather service dismisses claims of mismanagement

Anonymous employees at the South African Weather Service (Saws) have accused the organisation’s CEO of deliberate tender obstruction, financial mismanagement and abuse of authority, claims the entity has strongly denied.

- Oratile Mashilo and Jarryd Westerdale

In a detailed document seen by The Citizen, whistle-blowers allege that the CEO obstructed the procurement of key equipment and oversaw the accumulation of a R53.2 million cash deficit for the 2024-25 financial year.

The employees claim this conduct has placed the weather service in “financial distress” and undermined its operations.

According to the document, the National Treasury confirmed the R53.2 million cash deficit on 2 October, 2025 and advised CEO Ishaam Abader to implement measures to improve efficiency.

Among the key allegations are the repeated cancellation of a high-performance computing tender, the 14-month vacancy in the ICT security manager position despite cyberattacks earlier this year and the nine-month lapse of the fleet management contract, which resulted in “wasteful expenditure of R329 659”.