Telkom stores and BCX warehouse damaged in looting
Telkom said that damage to warehouses in Durban harbour, including the BCX warehouse, is likely to negatively impact delivery times of hardware.
“We request patience as we manage the impact of these incidents on the supply chain,” the network operator said.
“In addition, we are working with our distribution partners to enable us to continue to meet our commitments where it is safe to do so.”
Telkom also said that it is busy rehabilitating stores affected by the attacks on malls during the past week.
“Where the risk remains high, the stores will remain closed and customers are directed to alternative channels,” said Telkom.
“A number of other retailers, which offer distribution of our products, are also closed.”
Riots racked the greater Durban area and parts of Gauteng this past week after former president Jacob Zuma was found in contempt of court and handed himself over to police.
What started as a political protest soon degenerated into deadly and destructive rampages in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
The death toll due to the riots rose to 117 last night, and authorities reported arresting almost 1,500 people.
This morning, as armoured vehicles rolled into KwaMashu, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) reported that the violence and looting that gripped the country for the past week seems to have calmed down.
Telkom said that although the financial impact of the destruction to property and disruption of its operations, suppliers, and business partners is still being collated, the company is on course with the recovery of operations impacted by the violence of the past week.
“We are working to support employees in the worst affected areas to enable them to cope with the impact of the disruption where necessary,” Telkom stated.
The company said its employees had already been working under lockdown level 5 conditions.
“Our risk assessment has helped us to reduce the level of exposure of Telkom employees by limiting certain activities such as the despatching of technicians and closing of Telkom stores,” said the company.
Regarding the restoration of network services that were disrupted by the riots, Telkom said it has continued with network operations where it was safe to do so.
“To protect employees, technicians have not been despatched to certain areas and we continue to monitor the situation to ensure employee safety,” Telkom said.
“This has resulted in an increase in the number of incidents, the length of time that we are attending to incidents, and the total number of incidents to be attended.”
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