Another MTN cellphone booster will soon go up in Fourways and a group of residents is outraged by the plan.
Janice Labuschagne, a resident of Douglasdale and a committee member of Glenluce South Security, told Fourways Review that the community only had a few weeks to log objections before the deadline, which was 20 October.
She explained, “We recently received notification that one of our streetlamp poles has been demarcated to be changed into a cellphone booster. We noticed that very few residents were notified and only a small sign was placed on the streetlamp.
“After informing our residents via our Facebook page, many residents said they are extremely unhappy about this and have been sending through their objections. We have seen many of these poles going up in Bryanston, regardless of community objections. We want to stop the pole from ever going up because once it is up it is very difficult to take down.”
Labuschagne said residents were concerned about the health risks these antennas posed to children, pets, and the resident owl population. “We have yet to hear any feedback from the project manager regarding questions we have asked.”
Ward 115 councillor Matome Mafokwane said he was aware of the situation. “I share in the residents’ frustrations with regard to this matter,” he said.
“I spoke to a service provider [whose name is known to Fourways Review] working on this project who came to me in March and told me that public participation was done and got permission to go ahead with the project. I asked how he achieved this without speaking to me first as the councillor.”
Mafokwane added that the service provider said he was given approval by the previous councillor. “I asked him for proof of this and he showed me a document that proves some residents who are directly affected, have given the go-ahead for the project.”
When contacted, the service provider told Fourways Review that he was not allowed to speak to the media and referred us to MTN.
In a statement, MTN’s Jacqui O’Sullivan, executive of corporate communications said the company could confirm that it was currently following the stipulated public participation process. ‘This is as part of MTN’s agreement with City Power to upgrade a light pole to include a cellphone antenna to improve connectivity and to cater to the increasing development in the area,’ the statement read.
‘This process ends on October 20. We shall await the formal approval from City Power and the stakeholders involved before we proceed with the upgrade.’
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