Telkom lines were down in large parts of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape on Tuesday because of cable breakages, the company said.

There were poor signals in, among others, Ladysmith and Mthatha from 4am, said Telkom chief technical officer Thami Msimango. All landline and mobile communication into Botswana was also "severely affected".

"At this stage, very limited ingoing and outgoing voice capability is possible to and from Botswana."

There was severe congestion on the KwaZulu-Natal network. "At this stage, the cause of the cable breaks is still being investigated," said Msimango.

Sapa

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