Tsumeb phones fall silent after cable thefts

TELEPHONE cable thieves struck again on Tuesday evening and, in an act of wanton vandalism, snipped copper cables at three different places, leaving 595 lines in Tsumeb on the blink.

Telecom’s acting head of corporate communications, Oiva Angula, said the underground telephone cables were cut on Tuesday night and around 595 phones in homes and businesses were silenced. At the Minen Hotel, the vandals damaged a 100-pair copper cable feeding about 80 residential customers and in Nomtsoub township a further 215 residential customers were without a phone service.The town centre, which includes the Magistrate’s offices, the Municipality of Tsumeb and about 300 residential customers, was also left without communications.Angula said it would take at least another 28 hours before service is restored but all repairs should be completed by this morning.”Our technicians will first restore the 400-pair copper cable feeding the Magistrate’s and municipal offices, whose cable has been damaged at three different joints.Repair work will then shift to the Minen Hotel area where the copper cable was also severed at three separate joints.Our residential customers in the Nomtsoub suburb will then have their service restored,” he said.It was the third time that Tsumeb’s telecommunications cables have been damaged by vandals.In the first incident on the night of February 17, a two-metre long 1000-pair cable was stolen, affecting 400 customers in the south-eastern part of the town.Angula appealed to anybody with information on the incidents to call the nearest Police station.”There is a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of thieves and the recovery of copper wires,” he said.At the Minen Hotel, the vandals damaged a 100-pair copper cable feeding about 80 residential customers and in Nomtsoub township a further 215 residential customers were without a phone service.The town centre, which includes the Magistrate’s offices, the Municipality of Tsumeb and about 300 residential customers, was also left without communications.Angula said it would take at least another 28 hours before service is restored but all repairs should be completed by this morning.”Our technicians will first restore the 400-pair copper cable feeding the Magistrate’s and municipal offices, whose cable has been damaged at three different joints.Repair work will then shift to the Minen Hotel area where the copper cable was also severed at three separate joints.Our residential customers in the Nomtsoub suburb will then have their service restored,” he said.It was the third time that Tsumeb’s telecommunications cables have been damaged by vandals.In the first incident on the night of February 17, a two-metre long 1000-pair cable was stolen, affecting 400 customers in the south-eastern part of the town.Angula appealed to anybody with information on the incidents to call the nearest Police station.”There is a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of thieves and the recovery of copper wires,” he said.