Vodacom South Africa has instituted what it calls a community-based model to secure towers against battery theft. The community of Kamberg in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal has partnered with Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal region to implement additional security measures at the operator’s base station sites in the area.
Molefe Mahlangu, Executive Head of Operations at Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal, explains: “Following a series of meetings between ourselves and the Kamberg community, this community offered to deploy further security measures in ensuring that the community is not deprived of essential communications services.”
The Kamberg community recently put up a second security layer in the form of an electric fence around the three Vodacom towers that are regularly hit in the area. A few weeks later the community, working together with a private security company, apprehended two criminals that broke into Vodacom’s site in the area and successfully secured two stolen batteries from the thieves.
As well as supporiing the community involvement, Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal region has invested in robust security measures, including installing security cameras to monitor sites and deploying trained security personnel to respond quickly to any suspicious activity. High-security battery cabinets and hardened site containers have also been installed. In addition, says Vodacom, the region is working closely with law enforcement agencies, communities and security companies to arrest thieves for prosecution, with several cases awaiting trial.
As we have reported before, vandalism and theft are big problems for operators in Southern Africa – and for communities when residents are left without connectivity. For Vodacom, not only the cost of the equipment and resources required for restoration but also the cost of restoring connectivity can be significant. In fact Vodacom South Africa estimates that it loses about ZAR100 million (about US$5.3 million) to vandalism and battery theft each year.
