COMRiC’s newly released Telco Risk View 2026 report reveals a sobering reality: South Africa’s telecommunications operators absorbed R5.3 billion in fraud and cyber losses last year alone.
As an industry collaboration between Vodacom, Cell C, Telkom, MTN, and Liquid Intelligent Technologies, COMRiC has witnessed firsthand how cybercrime has evolved from a compliance issue into an existential threat to national digital stability.
The landscape ahead is even more challenging. Highly coordinated criminal groups and state-linked actors continue to intensify their targeting of telecommunications infrastructure, turning cyberdefence from a checkbox exercise into a licence to operate.
The reality is stark: A breach at one operator can cascade across the entire economy. No company can defend itself alone.
COMRiC CEO Thokozani Mvelase CFE (FP) SA puts it plainly: “Our industry did not avoid a crisis through fortune. It avoided a crisis because operators worked together, shared data, and responded faster than the threats evolving around them.”
As we navigate 2026, the stakes have never been higher. The next phase demands even deeper cooperation, shared intelligence, unified response systems, and sector-wide early warning protocols.
Because South Africa’s digital economy depends on networks that do not fracture under pressure.
Read the full Business Day article: Cybercrime cost South Africa’s telcos R5.3bn in 2025
Tags: #Cybersecurity #Telecommunications #SouthAfrica #CyberDefence #DigitalTransformation #TelcoSecurity