Battery thieves could plunge SA into a telecomms blackout

Crime syndicates targeting industrial batteries powering the country’s cellphone towers are wrecking businesses and threatening to plunge SA into a telecommunications black hole.

Organised crime syndicates risk plunging SA into a telecommunications blackout through the theft of hundreds of batteries from cellphone towers.
Organised crime syndicates risk plunging SA into a telecommunications blackout through the theft of hundreds of batteries from cellphone towers. (File Photo)

Crime syndicates targeting industrial batteries powering the country’s cellphone towers are wrecking businesses and threatening to plunge SA into a telecommunications black hole.

In the past month, thieves – who reportedly sell stolen batteries to off-grid households – have run riot across Gauteng.