Mar 7, 2010 12:00 AM | By Karen Van Rooyen
You do not want to live on Omega Street in Pomona, Gauteng, where not a single resident along the dusty stretch of road has a telephone line that works.
Some of them are still paying Telkom for the rental of the line every month - although they have not been able to use their phones for up to three years.
After thieves stole copper cables in the Pomona, Kempton Park, area at least four times, Telkom simply refused to replace them again, declaring the area "non-viable".
The parastatal said that "copper cable theft remains the biggest inhibitor to Telkom's capability to improve service levels". Cable theft cost the company R3-billion in the three years ending in August last year .
This week, Telkom refused to answer questions relating to Pomona and would not give an indication of how many other streets and neighbourhoods were in the same boat.
Telkom said it was looking at wireless options in certain areas. But this is no comfort for Omega Street resident Sherry Manners .
She was at home one evening when her burglar alarm went off. Because she had no land line and cellphone signals are so bad in the area, she had to go outside to phone her security company - not knowing whether intruders were on the property.
"We live on plots. If you get hit on the head, how are you going to get outside so you can make a phone call?" she said.
Manners's next-door neighbour, Charles Schreiber, said it was "shocking" that they were not allowed access to such a basic communication tool. "Everything we do now is working off cellphones. We can't even get an ADSL line.
"They promised us a wireless solution but so far nothing has happened."
Schreiber said that the family had gone from having just one land line to having four cellphones. Their phone bill has jumped from R250 a month to R1000.
"I don't ever want to do business with Telkom again," he said.
Sunkist Garden Pavilion nursery owner Johan Kok has had the same land-line number for 29 years - but has had to switch to cellphones.
"The business took a knock because people couldn't get hold of us, so from a business point of view it was a nightmare," he said. "Nobody gives a damn. I won't do business with Telkom again."
Pensioner Ann Toerien said that even though she had not been able to make or receive a call in nearly two years, she still paid rent for the line every month so she would not have to re-apply for a number should Telkom ever decide to restore the service.
Manners said: "We've resigned ourselves to the fact that Telkom has abandoned us."
On the other side of town in Naturena, primary school teacher Boitumelo Letho said people had been without land lines for two years in most of her area.
She said the family had resorted to using cellphones, but had been without access to the Internet.
Telkom said: "Telkom always endeavours to restore interrupted services as expeditiously as possible. It is important, however, to note that each incident of cable theft needs to be handled uniquely."
