/ 17 October 2007

Telkom loses R350m through fraud

Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the state-owned telecommunications giant Telkom has lost R350-million over three years through fraud.

Giving a written reply to a question from African National Congress MP Vincent Gore, she said that Telkom has also experienced significant theft of cables, solar panels and wireless communications equipment, as well as the vandalism of payphones, though she gave no figures for these losses.

The minister also told Gore that Telkom has deployed a fraud-management system to detect fraudulent calls made on its customers’ lines.

She added that 434 people were arrested for fraud during the financial years 2002/03 until 2004/05 and that 112 were successfully prosecuted for defrauding Telkom by means of illegal calls. — I-Net Bridge