Staff Reporter
As the Coronavirus sweeps the globe, so do rumours about what caused it or how it is spread. One such rumour that has gained steam online is that MTC has secretly installed 5G towers while the Khomas and Erongo regions are on lockdown.
“The conspiracy theorist suggest that the lockdown was planned so that Namibians remain indoors and not oppose the erection of the 5G towers. At least two towers have been posted online: one in Walvis Bay and one in Auasblick by residents who claimed that they were erected overnight while people were sleeping,” said MTC’s Chief Human Capital and Corporate Affairs Officer Tim Ekandjo.
Ekandjo strongly condemned the rumours and confirmed that Namibia has no 5G sites and the technology has not been deployed yet.
“Our government has declared a state of emergency because of Covid-19 and Erongo and Khomas are under lockdown simply because of that reason. We should not make a mockery of Covid-19 by spreading such malicious rumours. MTC has and will always trial a new technology first like we have always done with the full permission of all relevant authorities,” said Ekandjo.
Asked whether MTC is planning to roll out the new 5G technology and what MTC’s views are on the correlation between 5G and Covid-19, Ekandjo said: “Yes, we are planning to implement the new 5G technology just like we did with 2G, 3G and 4G but we will do so responsibly. We have taken note of the rumours that 5G causes Coronavirus – and once again, this is a very unfortunate rumour that we will leave to our Health authorities to address as a matter of urgency. We are dealing with a pandemic and we should remain focused and not be sidetracked by rumours that will instil unnecessary fear in our people. Once we are ready to implement 5G technology, we will, as always, take all our customers on a fact sharing mission like we have always done. We have all the facts about 5G. South Africa’s minister for health Zweli Mkhize was recently confronted with the same question at a media briefing and his answer was ‘5G is a technology issued while Covid-19 is a virus’. At this difficult time, people must use facts instead of fake news to fight the pandemic,” Ekandjo concluded.