KwaZulu Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has emphasised the importance of educating the community of the benefits of the installation of 5G towers and that these towers are not responsible for the spread of COVID-19.
Zikalala held a webinar with academics where he debunked theories suggesting a link between 5G networks and the spread of the coronavirus. A number of towers have been vandalised in the province following social media posts suggesting such a link.
A voice-note of eThekiwni councillor Sfiso Mngadi made the rounds on social media recently suggesting that people are getting COVID-19 from 5G towers. Later, three cell phone network towers were burnt and damaged in the province.
This week, the African National Congress (ANC) summoned Mngadi to a meeting about these claims. Zikalala has condemned the vandalism of towers emphasising that they are not linked to the spike of the COVID-19 infections.
Zikalala has warned communities that the spread of fake news is a punishable offence.
“It is crime to spread fake news or disinformation. When fake news is spread by fake. A fake person who spread fake news he himself if you engage with him as a person you find that the substance on subject matter is not at a level envisaged to argue it becomes a problem. So destroying technological or techno communication infrastructure is a serious crime and punishable by the law.”
Zikalala has called on cellphone network operators to work closely with the communities they are servicing.
“Network operators themselves when they install and provide services they don’t build relationships and trust with communities. When we provide services to the people let us work with them, let us ensure that go there before, meet with structures introduce ourselves but also meet the community let these big companies let them understand the condition on areas that they are covering and operating from. Let them be attached to communities and not just deploy towers and leave and think that someone must only protect that. Educate the people, work with the people.”
Professor Tshilidzi Marwala of the University of Johannesburg has emphasised that there is no link between 5G and COVID-19.
“Just because something happens at the same time such as the Corona Virus spreading and 5G towers being built it does not mean that 5G causes the virus. But let us look at the science. COVID is a virus that is transmitted through respiratory droplets and spread similarly to the flu it is a living organism. The logical organism we can draw is that 5G cannot cause COVID why is this so, 5G is simply the 5th generation technology for cellular networks which is a progression of our current technologies as society increasingly go mobile and use more data.”
Security practices should be put in place for 5G rollout:
The CEO of the Moses Kotane Institute, Thandeka Ellenson, says vandalising the towers will set the province back.
“5G helps us bridge the communication gap between rural and urban areas. Our biggest challenge is the vandalism of 5G towers because of misconceptions because I’d the circulating voice notes against 5G. Because of people who believe that 5G is a cause of this that and that. This has set the province backward in terms of connectivity.”
Zikalala’s webinar follows shortly after a similar event by the Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu to debunk the same theories about 5G and COVID-19.
Vandalised cellphone tower infrastructure leaves citizens frustrated:
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