Guard foils Bathurst cellphone tower thief

A security guard foiled an attempted theft at the cellular base station in Bathurst last night. South African Police Service spokesperson Captain Marius McCarthy said police were summoned to an incident at the facility, which is located near the Bathurst Toposcope, last night, Monday March 16.

“Allegelly a private security guard who was patrolling the area noticed someone attempting to steal copper at the toposcope,” McCarthy said. “It is further alleged that the private security guard fired a warning shot and the [suspect] fled the scene.”

Police opened an Inquiry and the investigation was ongoing.

Multiple incidents of vandalism and theft at the site over the past four months have caused repeated  interruptions to mobile phone and internet connectivity. Residents, many of whom own businesses in the village or work remotely, have expressed frustration and concern at the impact of the often prolonged outages.

Local radio station Ndlambe FM was one of the casualties, with theft and vandalism to their transmitter forcing them off air for two weeks in February.

In one of several subsequent incidents, power cables were replaced, only to be stolen again two days later.

Although it is surrounded by strong security fencing, the site is remote and isolated.

Networks sharing the base station include Vodacom and MTN. It is powered by Eskom and some individual networks also have their own backup generators at the site.