Ongoing Fibre Service Failures

Dear Vodacom Fibre Complaints Team,

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the ongoing and unacceptable fibre service disruptions in Tedstoneville, Germiston.

For the past month, our area has experienced frequent and prolonged fibre outages, amounting to well over 100 hours without connectivity. The service is unreliable on an almost daily basis, making it extremely difficult—if not impossible—for residents to work from home or conduct normal daily activities.

Despite multiple complaints and follow-ups, Vodacom has been unable to identify or resolve the root cause of the problem. These outages are not related to load shedding, as we have not experienced power interruptions during many of these incidents. Furthermore, Vodacom advertises network resilience and backup power solutions, which clearly are not functioning as promised.

What is particularly concerning is that we are still being charged the full monthly subscription fee, despite Vodacom delivering a service that is consistently below acceptable standards. In addition, residents are incurring additional costs for mobile data just to remain connected for work purposes—costs that would not exist if the fibre service was reliable.

When enquiring about cancelling my fibre service due to Vodacom’s failure to deliver, I was informed that I would be charged a cancellation penalty of R7,500. This is both unreasonable and unfair. Vodacom expects customers to honour their financial commitments in full, while Vodacom itself is not meeting its contractual obligation to provide a reliable service.

It is unacceptable that:

Vodacom charges full monthly fees while delivering an unreliable service

Customers are penalised for cancelling due to Vodacom’s failure to perform

No clear resolution or permanent fix has been provided despite repeated complaints

This situation is not sustainable and raises serious concerns under the Consumer Protection Act, which requires services to be provided in a manner that is reasonable, timely, and of acceptable quality.

I hereby request:

A formal explanation for the ongoing outages in our area

Immediate corrective action with clear timelines

Appropriate billing relief or credits for the extended downtime

A waiver of the cancellation penalty should Vodacom be unable to restore a stable service

Should this matter not be resolved urgently, I will have no choice but to escalate it to ICASA, the National Consumer Commission, and relevant consumer advocacy platforms.

I look forward to your prompt response and a workable resolution.