Right now South Africans need access to timely and accurate news as protests along with violence and looting continue to grip the country.

Unfortunately, as part of the looting, vandalism has also come to the fore and sadly a number of community radio stations have had to close their doors.

Alex FM, Ntokozo FM, Mams FM and Westside FM have all become victims of vandalism and whether these radio stations reopen is an unknown at this stage.

“The property is damange and radio equipment has been stolen from the radio station. Due to these unfortunate events Alex FM will not be able to operate. Therefore, this leads to the closing of the radio station for an indefinite period till further notice,” reads a statement from Alex FM in Alexandra, Gauteng.

Sadly, community radio stations aren’t the only target. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has received reports that communication infrastructure is being vandalised.

As of Tuesday afternoon, ICASA has received reports of some 113 network towers being vandalised. This leads to an inability to communicate and access accurate information about the volatile situation in a person’s community.

While ICASA chairperson, Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng, has written to the National Joints Operations and Intelligence Services to request that safeguarding of critical communication infrastructure is prioritised, ICASA needs eyes on the ground.

“We call on the communities to assist in guarding and protecting this critical infrastructure, and to exercise the highest levels of patriotism in this regard. Any disruption of communication services could prove disastrous and result in increased mortality as emergency calls may be directly impacted,” said Modimoeng.

We recommend getting in touch with ICASA should you see any vandalism or threats of vandalism in your area. ICASA has offices around the country and you can find those contact details here.

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]