This explains a lot...

 

There is actually a lot of unused copper in SA. I refer to the Telkom landlines. Copper has been replaced by fiber in most urban areas (even for folks who just want a telephone), but the copper lines are still in place. The poles (now managed by Openserve) carry fiber and the unused copper.

I recently had Openserve come to work on the pole in my property. They wanted to take all the copper away, but they couldn't get access to enough properties to remove the whole run of copper down the street. So it stays there. Doing nothing except to provide a perch for birds.