Girl, 3, rushed to hospital due to fumes
Repeated asthma attacks for 3-year-old after a generator was powered carelessly close to the cottage she lives in.
A 3-year-old girl was rushed to hospital due to diesel fumes emanating from a generator, powering a cell phone tower this weekend.
Chris Joubert’s tenant’s granddaughter, 3, was rushed to hospital on Friday afternoon thanks to diesel fumes coming through her parents’ cottage’s windows in his backyard. The girl is asthmatic and had multiple asthma attacks after a large hired generator was switched on barely three metres from the bedroom window over the weekend. The property in Ontdekkers Road, behind their property, belongs to the American Tower Corporation (ATC) who rent the cell phone tower erected on it a few years ago to Cell C and Vodacom.
However, by closer inspection, the Record found electricity supply to ATC’s property had been disconnected, it being the reason for generators being used to keep the signals broadcasting. The decision to hire and install generators on the property was a desperate measure by the two service providers to keep residents connected.
The Record was first alerted to the incident on Saturday afternoon 22 August, after the granddaughter had already returned home.
“I was hoping to get a night of peaceful sleep tonight,” a frustrated Joubert told the Record at his home that afternoon.
Apparently he initially reported it to a Mr Peterson on Vodacom’s 082 111 number to which he simply got answered, “You just have to live with it.”
It took a few interactions on twitter with the service providers and phone calls to ward councillor Carl Mann to get more information. Vodacom quickly reacted to the Record’s enquiry with detailed questions and an official report.
Vodacom spokesperson Tshepo Ramodibe confirmed the tower belongs to ATC and is partly rented by Vodacom and partly by Cell C. He told the Record the larger of two generators on the property, the one by the Jouberts’ cottage, belongs to Cell C.
“While Vodacom does have a generator on the premises, the unit is located a distance from neighbouring premises,” he said.
“Our generator has been running since Friday [21 August] as no electricity was available on the site.
“The generator enabled us to provide continued coverage to the area.
“To lessen the impact, we have since Satruday [22 August] switched on the generator to charge batteries; the generator was, however, switched off at night.”
According to Cell C spokesperson Karin Fourie, they also deployed a generator to the site on Friday as no electricity was available.
“On Sunday [23 August] when Cell C was made aware of the complaint, a team was dispatched to relocate the generator.
“The affected site provides coverage to a number of customers in the area and it is imperative that service is not disrupted.”
Fourie in her response said Cell C is engaging with ATC to ensure electricity to the site is restored as soon as possible.
ATC has not responded to the Record’s enquiries today (Monday 24 August).
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