The recent internet outage affecting South Africa and other parts of Africa was caused by breaks in four undersea telecommunications cables: WACS, ACE, MainOne, and SAT–3. MainOne’s preliminary analysis suggests seismic activity on the seabed as the cause. Repairing the damaged cables is expected to take at least five weeks, with disruptions impacting Microsoft’s cloud region in South Africa. Microsoft has rerouted traffic and expanded capacity on alternative cables to mitigate the issue. Efforts are underway to repair the cables, with a cable ship en route to the affected area.

Here are the rest of  undersea cables connecting South Africa to the rest of the world, listed by cable length:

1. 2Africa cable – Length: 45,000km

2. ACE (Africa Coast to Europe) cable – Length: 17,000km

3. Seacom cable – Length: 15,000km

4. WACS (West Africa Cable System) – Length: 14,530km

5. SAT-3 cable – Length: 14,350km

6. SAFE cable (paired with SAT-3) – Total length with SAT-3: 27,850km

These cables play a crucial role in maintaining stable connections for South Africa’s internet and telecommunications infrastructure.