Tower torchers slammed

CELLPHONE INFRASTRUCTURE: MINISTER CALLS FOR POLICE ACTION

Burning follows resurgence in claims that 5G network can causes the coronavirus.

Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams has condemned the burning and destruction of cellphone network tower infrastructure and urged the South African Police Service to arrest those responsible for this anarchy.

The burning of the cellphone towers follows a resurgence in conspiracy theories which link the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic to 5G.

Three telecommunications network infrastructure towers belonging to Vodacom and MTN were burnt and destroyed between Tuesday and Wednesday in KwaZulu-Natal.

The minister has described the misinformation campaign as a threat to investments made in telecoms network infrastructure.

“It is regrettable that the much-needed network infrastructure is being destroyed. The country currently needs resilient and high-speed connectivity for every citizen to enable them to participate meaningfully in the digital economy. Furthermore, mobile telephony is crucial in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“The destruction of network towers compromises multipronged efforts and initiatives to stem the spread of the virus. We therefore urge the police to arrest anyone who is threatening to

We need to remind South Africans that spreading fake news or disinformation about Covid-19 is a punishable offence.

remove infrastructure network stations or towers,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been several social media campaigns linking 5G network to the outbreak of the virus.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has, however, dispelled such myths. In its recent statement on this matter, the WHO said: “To date and after much research performed, no adverse health effect has been causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies.”

The WHO statement on the matter was also echoed by South Africa’s department of health, which also described such assertions as unfounded.

“We also need to remind South Africans that spreading fake news or disinformation about Covid-19 is a punishable offence. Those involved in the destruction of infrastructure are not only breaking the law, but also violating people’s right to access information,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams.

There has been an evolution of cellular telephony over years.

It started with the fi rstgeneration analogue cellular network (1G), which at that point only used voice. This was followed by an evolution to 2G, which included voice and text, then 3G which included the internet, pictures and voice and text, while 4G and 5G are upgrades which include faster download speeds and more added services. –