Telkom takes three weeks to replace cables
Staff say they are offline although cables were fixed
BETHAL – Residents, as well as the Bethal Licensing Department, have been without internet for more than three weeks because Telkom took their time to fix stolen cables.
Ms Marietjie Fourie, DA Councillor, asked Mr Bosman Grobler, DA MPL, for assistance and she informed residents on Friday, 19 October, that Telkom was finally onsite and replacing the stolen cables affecting the licensing office.
However, on Monday, 22 October, the licensing office was still offline and Ms Fourie and the communications department of Govan Mbeki Municipality advised residents to renew their vehicle licenses in Secunda.
Ms Fourie placed a request to the provincial office to issue a letter stating that the licensing department was offline and motorists could not renew their licenses, but this was not granted.
The matter was reported to the MEC on Tuesday, 23 October and the cables were replaced by Wednesday, 24 October but when the public went to the department on Wednesday, they were still told by staff members that the system is offline and that they should return the next day.
Ms Fourie phoned the manager and he confirmed these instructions.
People had to stand in a queue for as long as four hours on Thursday, 25 October upon returning to the licensing office to renew their licenses and despite the long queues, only two cashiers operated.
The one cashier took a tea break at 9.45am, leaving only one to tend to the long queue.
