News

Vodacomes and Vodagoes

Hendrina residents truly bear the brunt when it comes to the absence of services.

March 28, 2019

Sjani Campher 2 minutes read

When there’s a water crisis, they’re the first to sit without water, then it’s the crippling effects of load-shedding and now, to add to their misfortune, residents who are Vodacom customers have had to sit without network services for days on end.

Www.mobserver.co.za became aware of Hendrina’s network problems when a Middelburg resident rushed to Hendrina, expecting the worst, after not being able to make contact with their family.

When a formal media enquiry was directed towards the network provider, Managing Executive Mr Zakhele Jiyane responded with a statement.

Mr Jiyane assured www.mobserver.co.za that Vodacom was fully aware of the network issues and that their technicians were hard at work trying to restore services.
He stated that vandalism was the cause of network interruptions, as they are often the targets of theft.

Mr Jiyane went on to explain that the theft of diesel, power cables and batteries at their base stations, not only cause interruptions in communication for long periods of time, but also cost millions of rands worth of damage.

“Each theft incident can result in the network in that area being down for days, and can severely impact businesses as well as anyone relying on the internet to study. It can also cause ecological damage with vandalism resulting in diesel spillage. We have ramped up the fight against this criminal activity and are working closely with law enforcement agencies and security companies to arrest thieves for prosecution,” Mr Jiyane stated.

He urged members of the public to assist with their fight against crime by reporting any acts of theft or vandalism to their nearest police station.

According to Mr Jiyane, services were due to be restored earlier this week.