CONTINUOUS SERVICE DISRUPTION ON WORKING FARM SCHOOL

Continued disruption of service: I work at a small farm school in the Free State district. Jimmie Roos School for boys, farm Rooipoort DeWetsdorp. We have behaviourally difficult boys who are placed by the court for a period of two years plus. There is a working farm which basically keeps the doors open by generating much-needed income to meet the needs of these boys. At the school, Vodacom have installed a tower to meet the needs of the 200-plus employees, learners and families.

On Saturday, 26 September, the signal went off. It was reconnected again on Wednesday, 01 October, only to go off again on the 2nd for a shorter period. Anything shorter than 5 days is shorter. I was informed this morning, 03 October 06:15, by residents at Jimmie Roos with different service providers, that the Vodacom signal is off again.

Here lies the problem. We have 90-plus boys in the hostel, of whom most have cellphones. The school holidays started. These already difficult boys are bored and don't have a cellphone signal. We use Vodacom as the exclusive medium of communication on the grounds. During emergencies, the medical staff on stand-by need to be summoned to attend to it. Maintenance problems need to abe ddressed by the factotums. It is slowly but surely becoming a perfect storm. Vodacom can you please provide the reliable service wisch we have become dependent on during the last 30 years? Please

Phoning your 082135 number to log a problem is a logistical nightmare. I have listened to the irritating music and regular messages for up to 15 minutes at a time. Doing that with learners that are to be taught and by having to scale up a high building to receive the little bit of signal from a wayward tower, is at best a difficulty. Your 082135 number is akin to our government services: pathetic, which portrays a worsening attitude towards service delivery to your customers. The Vodacom I contracted with in 1998 was a fresh and eager company to gain market share and was willing to serve its customers.