Telkom working on recovering after riots

16th July 2021 By: Natasha Odendaal - Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

Telecommunications group Telkom is counting the costs of the mass riots, destruction of property and looting across KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng over the past week as it starts the recovery of its affected operations.

The company said in a statement on July 16 that it is on course with the recovery of the impacted operations; however, the financial impact of the destruction to property and disruption of Telkom operations, suppliers and business partners is still being collated.

The group reduced the level of exposure by employees to the mass action by limiting certain activities such as the despatching of technicians and closing of Telkom stores.

“Telkom is in the process of rehabilitating affected stores. Where the risk remains high, the stores will remain closed and customers are directed to alternative channels as a number of other retailers, who offer distribution of our products, are also closed,” Telkom explains.

While Telkom prioritises the integrity of the network and continues with network operations where it is safe to do so, technicians have not been despatched to certain areas to ensure their safety.

“We are working to support employees in the worst affected areas to enable them to cope with the impact of the disruption where necessary,” the group said, noting that it continues to monitor the situation to ensure employee safety.

“This has resulted in an increase in the number of incidents and length of time that we are attending to incidents and the total number of incidents to be attended.”

Further, an incident at the Durban harbour and damages to certain warehouses, 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. 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 concluded.