The traffic lights use sim cards, modem and use GPRS to send and receive information, a system intended to save time and manpower by alerting the road agency’s head office when any lights malfunction. According to Thulani Makhubela, a spokesman for the agency, the robberies have been “systematic and co-ordinated”, possibly by a syndicate. An internal investigation has now been launched.
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Makhubela said the road agency was meeting its suppliers to discuss how to make the traffic lights more secure. It has blocked all the stolen sim cards so that they can not be used to make further calls.
(via No stopping Johannesburg’s traffic light thieves | World news | The Guardian)
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