Last week, the South African communication minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams (pictured) condemned the destruction of telecom towers operated by MTN and Vodacom in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The infrastructures were burnt by anti-5G activists.

According to the official, the incident occurred after the spread of alleged conspiracies linking Covid-19 and 5G technology. As at January 7, 2021, South Africa had recorded 20,999 new Covid-19 cases according to official stats, against 16,000 two days earlier. A fact that looks dubious for anti-5G activists as the two telecom companies launched 5G in December and plan to accelerate deployment once the new telecom licenses are acquired.

In a statement, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said the destruction of the telecom towers undermines the multi-pronged efforts and initiatives engaged to control the spread of the virus. Calling the telecom towers a critical network infrastructure, the minister stressed that the country needs them to provide resilient, high-speed connectivity to every citizen to enable them to participate meaningfully in the digital economy.

Sources at MTN and Vodacom said the towers burnt in the province of KwaZulu-Natal were not 5G towers.