Sign petition to prevent pylons from ruining Alberton

THE Democratic Alliance has drawn up a petition to prevent pylons/power lines planned for Alberton from being erected.

At the council meeting of Thursday, January 26, the item proposing the approval of the alignment of the Eskom pylons through the CBD of Alberton was once again presented and rejected by the DA spokesperson on this oversight committee, councillor Alta de Beer.

The fact that the item was distributed as a supplementary item which reached councillors only electronically and extremely late, gave the impression that someone was trying to fast-track the process. This caused major consternation and disruptions.

Clr Bruna Haipel and the community of Alberton have stated on many occasions and in no uncertain terms that this proposal is totally unacceptable.

According to Haipel, the proposal in the item is inaccurate and potentially fraudulent in terms of the omission of the ward 106 residents’ objections as well as all the petitions, letters and emails sent to Eskom and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality.

Clr Haipel handed in a motion to the mayor and council at a previous meeting on the urgency of the matter, which was refused by the speaker because “it was not urgent enough”. But the following month it was refused because ”it was too late”.

“It must be pointed out that the various departments were well aware of the extensive objections raised and that they deemed it fit to ignore those objections. City Planning: page 12 (the two bullet points). How can a decision be taken before these requirements have been satisfied. Omissions regarding requirements could be deemed as tacit consent,” Haipel argued.

“Health and social: page 27 point 4G and H: Approval cannot be considered under any circumstances in the absence of Eskom’s written reassurances, including empirical evidence regarding the health and safety aspects of the electromagnetic emissions from the lines. At worst an open written undertaking, with no timeframes, duly notarised, that Eskom will accept liability for all harm and consequence caused by their transmission line.

“Failure to do this may result in the liability being inflicted on the EMM and/or the HODs and/or the MECs who failed to observe and/r consider the potential negative impacts of such radiation, in their personal capacity.

“The way the courts are looking, the liability may even devolve on the councillors who agreed to the resolution in spite of the flaws,” Haipel added.

After much debating and caucusing in council, and with the support of most of the opposition councillors, the item was once again withdrawn. An inspection of the alternative alignment was carried out by Haipel with the help of a qualified electrical engineer and a town planner.

Haipel explained that the eastern alternative is extremely viable as Eskom already has a servitude with power lines. “This alignment traverses mostly industrial areas and would not affect the CBD. It is now up to the concerned councillors and the residents to convince Eskom and the EMM to do the honourable thing.

“With a view to this we are requesting everyone to sign a petition.”

Residents wishing to sign the petition can visit: www.petitions24.com/mayor_masina_reroute_the_eskom_pylons_planned_for_alberton

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