The Director-General of Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Ms Nosipho Ngcaba and the British Consul General, Mr Christopher Trott, will on Tuesday 17 September 2013, sign a new lease agreement for South Africa’s use of a weather observation station based on the UK’s Gough Island.
The current lease agreement for Gough Island expired in July 2013. The department uses the Island to collect research data and make weather observations that are crucial for South Africa and the world. The quality of South African weather forecasts relies heavily on the availability of data inputs from the Gough Island region. In addition, the meteorological data serves as vital input into global forecasting models. The current data collection from Gough Island exceeds 55 years. It is critical data from an extremely data sparse region for climate studies and climate change projections.
In terms of the agreement, South Africa will, among other things, transport a limited number of UK citizens and cargo on the SA Agulhas II, at a concessionary rate between Cape Town and Tristan da Cunha.
The media is invited to the signing ceremony.
The details are as follows:
Date: 17 September 2012
Venue: Room 375, 3rd Floor, 120 Plein Street, Parliament , Cape Town
Time: 12h30 to 13h30
To RSVP, contact:
Sivuyile Ngaba
E-mail: SNgaba@environment.gov.za
Natalie Johnson
E-mail: NJohnson@environment.gov.za
For media enquiries, contact:
Zolile Nqayi
Cell: 082 898 6483
