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Two submarine Internet cables, Eassy and Seacom, connecting South Africa and Kenya have suffered damage since Sunday, May 12, 2024, leading to widespread Internet disruptions across East Africa, particularly in Kenya and Tanzania.
Wiocc, an investor in the Eassy cable system, reported a cut between South Africa and Mozambique, coinciding with a similar incident on the Seacom cable. As a result, all subsea capacity between East Africa and South Africa has been reportedly affected.
Tanzania's Minister of Information, Communication, and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye, confirmed the disruption, stating, "There are ongoing efforts to solve the problem.
As they continue to solve the problem, we will have low access to the Internet and international voice calls.”
Social media reports indicate widespread Internet blackouts in Kenya and Tanzania. A cybersecurity watchdog noted significant connectivity failures in Tanzania and Mayotte, while Malawi and Mozambique experienced minimal impact.
Frustrated users of major Kenyan networks and Internet service providers took to social media to report their experiences. Safaricom assured customers that it was monitoring the situation and implementing redundancy plans to minimize the impact.
South African Internet users were largely unaffected as most of the country's traffic is routed through cables on the west coast.
This incident is particularly concerning as it follows previous disruptions in the region.
Three subsea cables in the Red Sea were damaged by Yemeni Houthi rebels three months ago, and four cables near the Ivory Coast went offline in March 2024.
