Telkom experienced disruptions to its service today, as cable theft left customers in the Pretoria area unconnected.
The company revealed as a result of renewed cable thefts, 650 customers – individual and business clients – in the Danville, Elandspoort and Phillip Nel Park areas of Pretoria saw their connections affected.
Telkom says no emergency or essential services were impacted by the crime, including hospitals, which remained connected.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our customers by this crime and assure the community that Telkom has deployed several teams to work around the clock to restore the affected services as soon as possible,” said Theo Hess, head of network field services for Telkom.
The operator envisages cable replacements will be completed soon and full services restored by the end of the week.
Telkom has suffered ongoing trouble due to the theft of copper cables, leading the network operator to develop a number of strategies to counter the crimes, such as installing armed security guards along essential stretches of cable, and burying aerial cables underground where possible.
The company also collaborates with the South African Police Service and Business Against Crime initiative to combat copper cable theft through the Non-Ferrous Cable Theft Combatting Committee, while it has also implemented a hotline via which it asks that members of the public report thefts.
HumanIPO reported last week the South Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) had announced cable theft fell to its lowest level since April 2009 in January, predicting further falls this year.
