IN 2017, Durban communities including the Bluff, were rocked by the threat of cell masts disguised as cameras being erected by Ethekwini Municipality.
This year, to the dismay of Woodlands residents, the same fate might befall them after they were notified of a proposed erection of a cell mast on private property in Isleworth Avenue.
An irate resident who asked not to be named, has started a petition opposing the Isleworth Avenue installation and she has emailed the city about her concern over the health risks associated with this proposed cell mast.
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“Other residents and I strongly object to this installation, firstly because we did not know about it. The people we have questioned said it was advertised in a daily newspaper which we don’t even get or buy. So unbeknown to us, we now face being saddled with the 30-metre high cell mast along with the health problems it can potentially cause,” she said.
The woman only learnt about the cell mast when a stranger stopped at her gate to ask if she was aware of it.
He lives in Yellowwood Park and had received a registered letter notifying him of the proposed tower. “This was my first knowledge of it and I find it highly unethical that the immediate neighbourhood was not informed or consulted and certainly not by registered letters either. Also highly irregular is the very inconspicuous little sign attached to the base of said property gate, which one has to literally crouch down to read,” she exclaimed.
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Writing to the relevant department in the municipality, she questioned the alleged underhandedness and deliberate sneaky approach of a public announcement which affects the public in the immediate vicinity. “I asked the official to treat this as a matter of urgency in halting any approval of the applications made until all interested and affected parties in a 100-metre radius have been educated as to the pros and cons of such an erection, as well as their rights as citizens to either agree or object to such a structure,” she added.
Ward 64 councillor Gavin Hegter said he was made aware of the cell mast by the residents, and had not been told by the city itself. “My concern is that this mast is going up in a valley. Although it is 30-metres off the ground and it will affect those below it, what about the neighbours who are situated higher up behind the valley. It won’t be 30-metres higher than them and they will be affected by whatever is emitted from that mast,” he said.
Niki Moore, the spokesman for the Anti-Cell Mast Alliance said she had discovered that in eThekwini’s case, the public participation process has become a nuisance to get through as quickly as possible so that the box can be ticked, and the public ignored. “I have had cases where the public opposition to a proposed mast is 100%, where there has been a petition signed by hundreds of people, who even hold a public protest – and then the mast is approved anyway,” she said.
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She added that if the public wishes to appeal, they have to pay R5,000 – which very few people can afford. “And if the appeal is turned down – which is relatively inevitable, as the council is making money out of these masts – then the only recourse for the public is a very expensive court case. Ethekwini Council appears to have realised there is money to be made out of cell masts, so the wishes of itds residents is completely irrelevant,” she added.
“The DA is mounting a campaign to compel the council to adopt a policy on cell masts, which takes into the account the health effects and property devaluation. I have also approached the Human Rights Commission on this issue, as the council is removing people’s rights to a healthy environment, and preventing them from having input into their own environment.”
