The Ekurhuleni municipality has vowed to put the brakes on the construction of a cellphone mast on one of the community’s residential streets in Delmore Park.
This comes after the Advertiser ran a story about the ongoing construction of what appears to be a foundation for a cellphone mast on Malcolm Avenue.
Residents raised concerns about the cellphone masts being erected in their area without public participation processes being followed.
As part of the investigation into the violation of the municipality’s by-laws, the Advertiser approached the metro for comment on the issue, and authorities made it clear that the municipality had not given its approval to the construction.
Responding to questions from the Advertiser, the municipality said the construction of a cellphone mast in Malcolm Avenue is illegal as no building plan was approved by the metro.
“A contravention notice will be issued to the offender for building a cellphone mast without approved building plans or permission from the City of Ekurhuleni,” said metro spokesperson Themba Gadebe.
The metro also confirmed that no meeting was held with the affected community to explain what the construction was about, and whether or not the cellphone mast would pose a risk to their health.
When asked if the metro is worried about the possibility of a cellphone mast being so close to people’s homes, Gadebe said the proposed mast will be evaluated in terms of the EMM Cellular Mast policy and all other relevant legislation.
He, however, added that no minimum distances from existing buildings and/or streets are specified.
According to Gadebe, the land on which the mast is being erected belongs to the municipality.
- Public outcry
The erecting of a mast in the area has been met with an outcry. Residents of the area vowed that they would be going all out to stop the erection of the ‘illegal’ cellphone mast so close to their homes, which could impact their health.
A resident, Kennedy Smith, who lives close to the spot where the mast is expected to be installed, recently noticed workers digging, and he initially assumed that it was municipality contractors working on the water pipeline.
Smith, however, later noticed that they were building what appears to be a foundation for a cellphone mast. He then told the Advertiser that he believes that the construction was being done illegally because he and other residents had not been made aware of such a construction, saying if this was legal, the residents should have been informed beforehand.
It now appears that Smith’s gut instinct about the construction had been right.
- Ward 33 councillor in the dark
Ward 33 councillor Ashley Hoods was also approached. He said he was only made aware of the issue on the day the alleged construction of the foundation of the mast started.
He added that after the community contacted him, he immediately went to the site to investigate and the contractor told him that the construction was approved. He said sent him documents suggesting that the plan was approved a few years ago.
The contractor allegedly told the ward councillor that the land on which the mast will be erected forms part of the railway line property, not municipality’s land.
Residents said they are concerned that the cell mast being erected in the area will beam directly into the nearby homes and children’s play area.
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Residents want to stop erection of ‘illegal’ cellphone mast
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