DESPITE assurances by eThekwini Municipality that the poles currently being erected in and around Glenwood are only for the installation of CCTV security cameras, residents and ward councillor, Mmabatho Tembe, remain sceptical and suspicious the real resasons behind the erection of the poles.
Responding to Berea Mail following an article regarding the sudden erection of these ‘mystery poles’ in the Glenwood area, eThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa said the City had embarked on a city-wide CCTV project which would include License Plate Recognition cameras. She said the project was in line with the Municipal Integrated Development Programme which included creating a safe city as well as the new smart city objective. At the time of the article, MTN responded to Berea Mail by pointing out the the city would field questions about the erection of the poles.
Mthethwa said the municiplaity had formed relationships with many response agencies and private sector organisations with the objective to reduce crime in various parts of the metro and to have coverage of parts of the City where high levels of crime were reported. She said this included the replacement of aging steel poles with concrete poles which required less maintenance.
“Through private and public partnerships, new concrete poles have been introduced to improve smart city visibility. The City is moving towards wireless cameras that will increase visibility and serve as a backup if fibre cable is stolen or damaged. Each site that is categorised as a priority area is identified through crime statistics from the South Africa Police Service, various Community Police Forums, the Metro Police Unit, Urban Management Zone Unit and other security stakeholders. These cameras are monitored 24 hours, 365 days in a year,” she said.
Speaking to Berea Mail this week, Councillor Tembe said she still had many questions, as did many residents who had contacted her, pointing out that the poles, which were yet to have cameras installed on top of them, looked very much like cellphone masts.
Resident, Tony Ball, said: “The pole at Willowvale Road is not a CCTV setup but a cellphone tower repeater. There is clearly no place for the CCTV cameras. Without question whoever erected this pole has pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes.”
Another resident, Jo Ludik, who spoke to Berea Mail in September, said she felt something was very fishy.
“One of the residents actually spoke to a foreman at the Lena Ahrens Road site and was told the tower will have MTN cell masts on the top, along with a camera,” she said.
Councillor Tembe said she questioned why the poles look similar to cellphone masts and wanted to know why the contract for these cameras was given to a cellphone company and not a security or CCTV company.
“I am questioning why so little information was given to residents and councillors. We only found out about the project once the poles were up and queries started coming in. If these are CCTV cameras, where are the cameras, and why do they look like cell masts? Councillors have all been given generic answers from an article which was published in Metro Beat about the project,” she said.
Tembe said she was aware of a gap in legislation which allowed telecommunication companies to rent space on a CCTV mast without having to go through the rezoning and consent process.
“I am not objecting to CCTV cameras, but what I am objecting to is being blindsided as to what is going on. I am fully in agreement with beefing up security, but not at the expense of underhandedness. We demand answers,” she said.
