DURBAN - LOCAL ANC councillor Sifiso Mngadi has angered people within eThekwini’s political establishment with a voice note in which he linked 5G networks to Covid-19.
In the voice note, Mngadi said: “Councillors. I think as leaders of eThekwini we need to take action against this disease that has entered.It’s not Covid-19. This we are getting from towers that are 5G, some of which were installed during the Covid pandemic and connected in preparation for the second wave.
“Maybe us as councillors we need to go and call for a special council meeting and take a decision and say that all 5G towers should be disconnected from the towers that are in eThekwini…”
He said if the 5G towers were disconnected, everyone would be okay.
Mngadi told the Daily News yesterday that the voice note was sent in a ANC councillors’ WhatsApp group around Christmas time and that someone must have shared it with people outside of the group. Mngadi said he had reflected what was being discussed by people on the ground.
The ANC did not take kindly to his voice note.
KZN ANC spokesperson Nhlakanipho Ntombela said what Mngadi said was taken by the public as the position of the ANC and the municipality.
Ntombela said the ANC would be summoning Mngadi to explain himself. He was also not surprised that Mngadi made these comments as “people who know him know that he is a person not to be taken seriously”.
Opposition parties took the voice note seriously, DA councillor and member of the city’s executive committee Thabani Mthethwa said they had already written to council Speaker Weziwe Thusi about the matter and also planned to take legal action if the municipality did not take any steps against him.
He expected all leaders in the community to act responsibly.
IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi said he took this as a joke that was on the ANC as a whole. He said a political party could not be sending different messages out to the public. "There should be an investigation into what Mngadi is claiming.“
Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda’s spokesperson Mluleki Mntungwa said the mayor had warned people who spread conspiracy theories to stop.
“It goes against accepted protocols in the fight against this virus. We continue to be guided by science as advised by the Department of Health. It is unfortunate that some people are spreading false information about the installation of 5G and linking it to the spread of Covid-19 in the city.”
MTN spokesperson Jacqui O’ Sullivan said: “There have been concerns about every technology wave, whether is was 2G, 3G or 4G and to date no concerns have been proven. MTN has, and will continue to adhere to the laws, safety and health guidelines set up World Health Organization and are committed to ongoing compliance on all such matters.”
She said South Africa’s ability to meaningfully participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution depended on access to 4G and 5G technologies and that “baseless conspiracy theories” did nothing more than to undermine much-needed progress for South Africans.
A Vodacom spokesperson said: “There is no credible scientific evidence linking 5G or mobile technologies to the spread of coronavirus.
“The international standards body ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) considers all potential impacts on human health relating to mobile phone frequencies including 5G.
“Following an extensive review of the best science currently available, in March 2020 ICNIRP confirmed that there are no adverse effects on human health from 5G frequencies if exposure is within their guidelines.”
Daily News