Covid-19 conspiracy theorists burn and destroy 5G towers in KZN

NEWSWATCH: According to a report by MyBroadband, three 5G telecommunication towers belonging to Vodacom and MTN in KwaZulu-Natal have been burnt and essentially destroyed by conspiracy theorists believing the emergence of the new generation of technology to be linked with Covid-19. The towers were burnt and destroyed between 5 and 6 January.

8 Jan 2021

Photo by Thomas Millot on Unsplash

Minister of communications and digital technologies Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams said in a statement that the destruction follows a resurgence in 5G-related conspiracy theories. Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams also urged the South African Police Service to arrest those responsible.

The minister further mentioned that several social media campaigns have emerged since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that link 5G network infrastructure to the outbreak of the virus. This is a myth that has been dispelled by a number of experts, including the World Health Organisation (WHO).

A report by BusinessTech quotes the minister as saying the country currently needs resilient and high-speed connectivity for every citizen to enable them to participate meaningfully in the digital economy. "Mobile telephony is crucial in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic," says minister Ndabeni-Abrahams.

ANC eThekwini councillor Sifiso Mngadi also recently suggested in a voicenote that 5G towers are killing people, this has brought him under scrutiny and many have condemned him for his views.

Mngadi said the following in the voicenote:

"Councillors. I think as leaders of eThekwini we need to take action against this disease that has entered.It’s not Covid-19. This we are getting from towers that are 5G, some of which were installed during the Covid pandemic and connected in preparation for the second wave."

Maybe us as councillors we need to go and call for a special council meeting and take a decision and say that all 5G towers should be disconnected from the towers that are in eThekwini."