The tower is being planned at the premises of the NG Kerk in Hughes and Donald streets.
Surrounding residents said the tower will, among many other things, devalue their properties.
“I have worked for 40 long years with a pick and a shovel to pay off my property and I can’t allow it to be devalued just like that – it’s not going to work,” said one of the residents, Veronica Kleiner.
Kleiner, who lives just a stone’s throw from the church, said there are enough towers in Witfield.
“We can’t have four telecommunications towers within a 3km radius – there’s just too many towers around us.
“I will not be living under a tower – it’s not fair. We are all elderly people on pension here and radio frequency signals from cell towers come with a lot of health risks.”
Kleiner blamed the church, saying they disregard residents and are only interested in the income to be generated from the tower.
The Advertiser approached the NG church for comment and was referred to Eagle Towers.
Eagle Towers said they are the ones who approached the church with the idea of erecting a tower there and not vice versa.
The company said they are following the legal processes and have also held a public participation meeting where a number of objections were raised and considered.
On November 12 last year, Peter Meijer Planning consultants distributed a notice to residents informing them of their intention to apply to the Ekurhuleni Metro for the erection of a 25m-30m Eagle Towers telecommunications infrastructure on ERF 96 Witfield, Boksburg.
The application was forwarded to the metro and the ball is now in the metro’s court for the decision.
The Advertiser enquired from the metro if any application in this regard was received and how far the process is.
We also wanted to know if the application contained any objections from the neighbouring residents, and what exactly is required for the objections to outweigh the application.
Furthermore, we enquired whether there is a limitation to the number of towers that can be erected within a certain radius.
No comment has been received thus far.
* The Advertiser also sought information on another concern from the resident, namely, that there is a health risk associated with cellphone antennas.
According to a German study cited at www.EMF-Health.com, a site devoted to exposing hazards associated with electromagnetic frequencies from cellphone towers and other sources, if you live within 400m of a cellphone antenna or tower, you may be at risk of serious harm to your health.
The study found that cancer rates more than tripled among people living within 400m of cellphone towers or antenna. It says those within 100m were exposed to radiation at 100 times normal levels.
An Israeli study found the risk of cancer quadrupled among people living within 350m of a cellphone transmitter – and seven out of eight cancer victims were women.
Both studies focused only on people who had lived at the same address for many years.
Other studies have found that levels of radiation emitted by cellphone towers can damage cell tissues and DNA, causing miscarriages, suppressing immune function and causing other health problems.
However, a 2006 report issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) offered some reassurance and found no scientific evidence that radio frequency signals from cell towers cause adverse health effects.
The report noted that up to five times more of the RF signals from FM radio and television (than from cell towers) are absorbed by the body, with no known adverse effects on health in the more than 50 years that radio and TV broadcast stations have been operating.
