MEDIA STATEMENT
12 NOVEMBER 2015
MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS OFFICIALLY OPENS LIGHTNING CONFERENCE
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa officially opened the 2015 LIGHTS
on Lightning Conference, today, 12 November in Pretoria.
The LIGHTS on Lightning Conference is hosted by the South African Weather Service in
association with the Lightning Interest Group for Health Technology and Science. The South
African Weather Service is an entity of the National Department of Environmental Affairs.
The conference serves as a platform for lightning researchers to share their relevant research
within the broader African lightning community.The teams aim to break new ground in the
centuries-old study of this complex, all-powerful, and at times mysterious scientific
phenomenon.
In the 21st century groundbreaking research is being conducted by the likes of the South
African Weather Service and the Lightning Interest Group for Health, Technology & Science.
Rather than mystery, science is used to explain and harness the power of lightning.
That said, we know that centuries-old indigenous knowledge continues to play a formative
role in helping our understanding of the science of lighting. The Kara Heritage Institute, under
the leadership of Dr. Mathole Motshekga, forms part of today’s proceedings.
Injuries and fatalities from lightning in South Africa are among the highest in the world, with
100 people killed by lightning strikes every year. Loss of consciousness, amnesia, paralysis and
severe burns are among the injuries reported by those lucky enough to survive.
Around the world, lightning strikes result in death and injuries to livestock and other animals,
forest and brush fires, and the destruction of agricultural land. In a country such as ours with
unique biodiversity, our wildlife is vulnerable to lightning strikes, our giraffes in particular.
While seeking shelter under trees, the entire animal herds can be killed by a single strikes.
In many parts of the world, including South Africa, financial losses incurred as a result of
lightning strikes can run into millions of rands, as homeowners and business owners claim
damages from insurance companies. The insurance division of one of South Africa’s and
Africa’s largest banks reported in 2012 that there has been as high as 402 percent increase
year on year in weather-related damage claims, including from lightning.
Minister Molewa said, “Despite the high number of fatalities and injuries from lightning
strikes, we know too that South Africa’s lightning research scientists are leaders in this field
and will continue to collate data and produce cutting-edge research to further enable our
understanding of lighting science., in particular in the medical study of lightning injuries and
casualties –keraunomedicine.”
In the 2014 paper on lightning medicine by Dr. Blumenthal, most lightning strikes tend to
occur in rural areas where our people are most vulnerable, poor and sometimes helpless.
Therefore, the collation of such data that you do, plays an invaluable role not just in aiding
our understanding of lightning and the proper treatment of victims of strikes, but also in
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aiding our efforts as government to better inform and educate our people on the hazards of
lightning.
“As a multi-disciplinary group that provides a platform for researchers to share their
knowledge on lightning physics and related scientists within an African context, I am pleased
to note that LIGHTS also aims to provide practical lightning safety tips and broad lightning
safety education through open public engagements,” said Minister Molewa.
This process is consistent with the provisions of the National Climate Change Response Policy
which advocates for adaptation measures aimed at enhancing climate resilient society and
emergency response capacity. This will require the enhancement of early warning systems as
part of proactive disaster risk management. Further is the need to continue to enhance the
generation and dissemination of climate information especially for climate sensitive sectors
and the vulnerable segment of our society.
This conference is taking place with less than three weeks to go before the 21st Conference of
the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP21)
opens in France. The UN Climate Change Conference as it is also more popularly known is a
conclusion of the global mandate which was agreed to at CoP17 in Durban four years ago.
Minister Molewa explained, “That mandate is to develop a protocol, another legal instrument
or agreed outcome with legal force, under the Convention, by no later than 2015, to come
into effect and be implemented from 2020. This agreement it is hoped will achieve our goal
of keeping global temperature rises below 2 degrees Celsius.”
Minister Molewa also expressed her pleasure that this conference will be producing a
scientific paper that presents the South African position on lightning research and how this
impacts on and/or affects climate change.
To access the Minister’s speech click on the link below:
https://www.environment.gov.za/speech/molewa_speakingnotes_2015lightsconference
For media queries contact Albi Modise on 083 490 2871
ISSUED JOINTLY BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND THE SOUTH
AFRICAN WEATHER SERVICE
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