The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Mthatha has been offline for the past two weeks after thieves allegedly stole copper cables near their premises in Fort Gale suburb.
NPA regional spokesman Luxolo Tyali confirmed yesterday that the institution had been rendered “incommunicado” as its telephone lines had not been working for two weeks.
“The person responsible for our maintenance told us that the problem with our phones was due to the fact that cables had been stolen,” he said adding it was not the first time they had found themselves in such a situation.
“They get stolen all the time. In fact, you can’t go for six months without it being stolen.”
The spokesman said the situation affected their operations as they dealt with many people, some of who wanted to ask about the state of court cases.
Last week city bosses issued an impassioned plea to residents within King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality to stop buying stolen copper.
KSD mayor Nonkoliso Ngqongwa, while addressing a business and investment expo on Friday, assured local business they were working to address power problems in the city.
She, however, said rampant cable theft was proving a huge challenge for the municipality.
Meanwhile OR Tambo District Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabati said cable theft could force a lot of local businesses to close or relocate.
In another scenario, investors interested in setting up businesses in Mthatha could end up being discouraged.
“Nowadays you can’t do business without technology so they need to find a way to address crime,” said Ntlabati.
In a statement to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Telkom said copper theft was a national problem.
“Business and residential customers are severely affected due to copper cable theft that results in service interruptions. In some areas Telkom has observed a trend in the deliberately determined cycle of theft,” the company stated.
It argued that it had also tried to put in place a number of counter-measures to try and fight the scourge.
These included employing the services of armed security firms, deploying wireless technologies and implementing a national campaign to raise awereness of Telkom’s toll-free crime-report line.
“Copper cable theft has created an environment of rapidly deteriorating service quality and is severely affecting the delivery of sustainable ICT services to some customers,” said the company.
Copper cable theft forces NPA to go offline
NPA regional spokesman Luxolo Tyali confirmed yesterday that the institution had been rendered “incommunicado” as its telephone lines had not been working for two weeks.
“The person responsible for our maintenance told us that the problem with our phones was due to the fact that cables had been stolen,” he said adding it was not the first time they had found themselves in such a situation.
“They get stolen all the time. In fact, you can’t go for six months without it being stolen.”
The spokesman said the situation affected their operations as they dealt with many people, some of who wanted to ask about the state of court cases.
Last week city bosses issued an impassioned plea to residents within King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality to stop buying stolen copper.
KSD mayor Nonkoliso Ngqongwa, while addressing a business and investment expo on Friday, assured local business they were working to address power problems in the city.
She, however, said rampant cable theft was proving a huge challenge for the municipality.
Meanwhile OR Tambo District Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabati said cable theft could force a lot of local businesses to close or relocate.
In another scenario, investors interested in setting up businesses in Mthatha could end up being discouraged.
“Nowadays you can’t do business without technology so they need to find a way to address crime,” said Ntlabati.
In a statement to the Daily Dispatch yesterday, Telkom said copper theft was a national problem.
“Business and residential customers are severely affected due to copper cable theft that results in service interruptions. In some areas Telkom has observed a trend in the deliberately determined cycle of theft,” the company stated.
It argued that it had also tried to put in place a number of counter-measures to try and fight the scourge.
These included employing the services of armed security firms, deploying wireless technologies and implementing a national campaign to raise awereness of Telkom’s toll-free crime-report line.
“Copper cable theft has created an environment of rapidly deteriorating service quality and is severely affecting the delivery of sustainable ICT services to some customers,” said the company.
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