Only one cable-laying ship is allowed to tackle repairs needed to the broken undersea fibre-optic cable segments in the Congo Canyon. The snapped cables are causing internet disruptions in South Africa. The only underwater cable-laying ship authorised to tackle the repair of undersea cables in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa is still more than 8 000 kilometres away from the site where two cables, critical to the provision of internet services in South Africa, snapped on the same day. The West Africa Cable System (WACS) and the South Atlantic Telecommunications Cable number three (SAT-3) snapped on the west coast of Africa, off the coast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Various companies in South Africa and along the west coast of the continent rely on the cables for internet services.

Source: News 24 August 15, 2023 06:00 UTC