SA internet slow because of cable break

A break in the West African Cable System (WACS) has caused slow internet speeds for many users in South Africa, at a time when most people are at home and relying on the internet for work and entertainment.

The Tertiary Education and Research Network (Tenet) of South Africa tweeted early on Saturday morning that there was a break in the cable system.

Tenet said in a later tweet that the break is between Highbridge in the United Kingdom and Seixal in Portugal.

Tenet said affected internet traffic will now be routed via the Seacom and EASSy cable systems.

Afrihost, Webafrica and RSAWEB are among the service providers who all tweeted about the cable break Saturday, indicating that they are working on solutions. Some service providers, such as Axxess, notified clients by SMS that their internet speeds will be affected.

The WACS stretches for 14 500 km and links 14 countries along the west coast of Africa with Europe. Some of the landing points are Bristol (United Kingdom), Lisbon (Portugal), Luanda (Angola), Lagos (Nigeria) and Cape Town.