Pretoria residents are urged to preload their prepaid electricity to avoid any disruptions during the planned internet downtime this week.

According to the City of Tshwane, the downtime is set for this coming weekend, from August 8 to August 11.

“The City of Tshwane was informed by its internet services SITA that it will upgrade the electrical infrastructure in its hosting data centre.”

It furthermore said during the upgrade process electricity to the whole SITA data centre will be turned off.

Also read: Warning: Fake Anti-Corruption site puts whistleblowers at risk

“This interruption will also affect the City’s own network and server equipment, which are situated inside the SITA hosting facility.

“To safeguard the City’s equipment from potential harm, all City of Tshwane hosted equipment will be turned off in advance. Some services may be restored earlier depending on SITA’s progress.”

During this time, the following City of Tshwane internet-related services will be interrupted:

• Internet access
• External email delivery
• City of Tshwane public-hosted websites
• VPN access
• Electricity vending
• All other City of Tshwane solutions that are internet-dependent

“The ICT Division management apologises for any inconvenience as a result of the downtime. Any changes to the downtime will be communicated to all users and stakeholders in advance. Your understanding is highly appreciated.”

Also read: Tshwane adds new fleet to deal with crime

Meanwhile in other news, a fake website has been identified that uses a Pretoria councillor’s name and photos to defame her and lure whistleblowers.

The website https://siobhanmuller.org, uses Councillor Siobhan Muller’s name and photos not only to defame her and lure whistleblowers but also to endanger their safety by exposing their personal information to criminals.

“The site is extremely dangerous as unknowing whistleblowers may use the site to report corruption, thus being exposed to the criminals and their lives and those of their families will be at risk,” Muller said.

She added that the site is designed to attract and contact whistleblowers, exposing their personal information and compromising their safety while defaming her.

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