Concerned smallholder Shann de Smidt writes:

We have a special request to make of you and your readership. On 24 December we received a phone call from Telkom to say that a technician was on his way to evaluate our telephone situation and see why the landline has not been functioning since late November 2007.

Being good-hearted folk and well into the spirit of Christmas, we got the coffee ready and the fruitcake sliced and set out. The technician never arrived. Every day we get an MS from Telkom to say that they are working on the problem.

We would like to request that anyone who has noticed this poor technician driving around helplessly in the area please stop him and give him directions to our property. It is not so difficult to find our house. We will cut the mould off the cake and make new coffee when he arrives.

Should we perhaps file a missing persons report at the police station? If he is found dead in his vehicle, would any reader have the contact details for Telkom’s human resources division? I am sure the technician’s family must be very desperate by now.