/ 1 January 2002

iTouch pulls plug on punani portal

Media and technology company iTouch has begun disciplinary action against two Cape Town employees who were reportedly running a pornographic website off its system.

The company said in a statement that it took ”swift action” as soon as it became aware its bandwidth was being used without permission.

”The matter has been treated with the utmost seriousness and will be handled in accordance with formal disciplinary proceedings,” said Sean Stegmann, the company’s chief operating officer.

He said the company would not condone anything that did not meet its high ethical and global business standards.

The website, www.punani.co.za is ”currently unavailable”.

iTouch, owned largely by the Independent group, describes itself as South Africa’s favourite provider of mobile services and products.

Its services include cellphone-based weather forecasts, sport results and horoscopes.

”It’s just a very minor disciplinary matter, it’s nothing more than that,” CEO of Independent News and Media in South Africa, Ivan Fallon, said on Thursday. – Sapa