LETTER: Lack of basic services hurts small business in Rondebosch

I have a small business in Rondebosch, Cape Town, and like most other business owners have struggled over the past two years due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We were upbeat at the start of February, what with University of Cape Town students returning and a general feeling that we were over the worst. However, we were given a serious wake-up call last Wednesday when our fibre cable linking us to the internet, email and phones was stolen. We have since jerry-rigged our emails but are still without phones.

We reported the problem to Telkom as soon as we became aware of it early last Thursday. However, despite numerous calls (always to a call centre) we are unable to speak to anyone who may be able to take action to restore our services. Apart from call centres in SA being one of the biggest confidence tricks played on all of us, this is just another example of how things are falling apart in this country. It is just so sad, apart from being extremely frustrating.

All of this talk about getting the private sector to employ more people is just hot air, a waste of oxygen if businesses cannot even rely on the provision of basic services.

Derek Pryce
Via email

JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.​