Subscribe

Telkom ups reward to catch saboteurs

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 29 Aug 2016
Telkom is confident a R1 million reward will lead to the arrest and prosecution of the alleged saboteurs.
Telkom is confident a R1 million reward will lead to the arrest and prosecution of the alleged saboteurs.

Telkom has increased its reward offer to R1 million for any information around what it calls "acts of sabotage" on its network.

After an initial offer of R500 000 for information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of the alleged saboteurs, Telkom confirmed the offer has now doubled. This reward is available to any person, either within Telkom or a member of the public with relevant information.

Three weeks ago, Telkom's network facilities were destroyed, resulting in maximum damage and cutting off approximately 13 200 customers.

Jacqui O'Sullivan, Telkom group executive for communications, revealed saboteurs cut Telkom cables, ripped street distribution cabinets apart and in a few instances set them on fire.

The criminals that damaged Telkom property knew what they were doing and specialist equipment was required to access the fibre cables and "the criminals were clearly using equipment that is not commonly available", according to O'Sullivan.

The facilities affected were those in Midrand, Pretoria West, Silverton, Durban, Pinetown, Pietermaritzburg, Makhado and Messina.

Telkom says it is confident the law will take its course and bring those that have compromised its network to book. "The police and our forensic teams are currently conducting investigations. We are also following up on a number of leads. While we cannot tell who is involved, we have seen a spike in acts of sabotage since the beginning of the strike."

Telkom workers, who are members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), embarked on strike action earlier this month as the union fights for salary increases for its members.

The CWU's strike comes on the back of a collaborative partnership agreement Telkom signed with trade unions Solidarity and the South African Communications Union (SACU) in June. The deal promised no forced retrenchments and limited outsourcing over the next two years. However, it also contained a stipulation that Telkom would not give any annual increases for staff this year, but committed to a 6% salary increase for all employees from 1 April 2017.

The CWU is demanding an 11% annual salary increase, a three-year moratorium on retrenchments, a better gain sharing scheme for workers, six months' maternity leave, as well as a more transformed executive.

Telkom's move to increase the reward offer to R1 million comes as the company and the CWU failed to reach a resolution to end the strike, which has now stretched into its fifth week.

According to Telkom, it made several proposals to the union; however, the parties could not find each other.

"Unfortunately, we could not come to terms with the CWU after many months of negotiations. We have signed a collaborative partnership agreement with Solidarity and the SACU, however. The strike continues," says the company.

Share