DURBAN – Westville Residents are reeling over the recent spate in theft of OpenServe network fibre infrastructure which had also been vandalised in the area. Three infrastructure boxes have been vandalised alongside Essex Terrace, and are visible to anyone travelling along the King Cetshwayo Highway.
Mike Myers, the founder of a security company, Mobi-Claw911 said they have consistently received a number of reports about fibre boxes being stolen in multiple locations around the area.
“We have numerous calls every day from residents regarding metal plates being removed from OpenServe fibre boxes. We are receiving pictures even from Queen Elizabeth Drive in the Dawncliffe area,” said Myers.
A resident, who did not want to named, said this new crime “syndicate” appeared right after the July unrest.
“We did not have this issue before the chaos in July. Recently, we are on edge, as we are unsure what other ideas the criminals will devise,” said the resident.
A police source, who is not authorised to speak to the media, said the theft of these boxes was happening all over the Durban area.
“Durban North, Glenashley and the Berea have all seen a surge in this kind of theft, and it has not been paid attention to by the property owners (OpenServe), which has offices in the areas,” said the source.
Head of communications at OpenServe, Nqobile Saleh said the company was worried about the rise in these incidents of theft and subsequent repercussions.
“We are concerned about the economic consequences of damage to essential network infrastructure on the South African economy. This is a serious criminal offence and takes many forms such as cable theft, vandalism, sabotage, mobile tower site vandalism, network infrastructure vandalism, fibre damage and battery theft incidents,” said Saleh.
Saleh added that OpenServe would continue to work with the industry and law enforcement agencies to stop theft and vandalism of communication infrastructure.
OpenServe has not indicated opening a case with the police.
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