DURBAN – The city is set to launch an investigation into claims that its head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa, omitted pertinent information when responding to the public outcry about cellphone masts going up at various points in the municipality.
Reports surfaced last week claiming that Mthethwa was allegedly aware that the poles were going to be used for the placement of MTN antenna.
Mthethwa claimed that there would be CCTV cameras placed on the masts.
DA councillor Shaun Ryley said they had requested the executive committee launch an investigation into an alleged “secret deal” between the municipality and MTN.
“We cannot recall any such agreement brought before any standing committee of the council for ratification, nor was there any request for permission to enter into such an agreement,” he said.
He added that since September last year, councillors had received many complaints from residents about the masts.
“When we contacted the relevant officials, we were told that the masts were used for CCTV as part of the city’s crime roll-out programme.
“However, other implements began to appear on the masts. It has also transpired that MTN is responsible for the installation of the masts,” Ryley stated.
He said the DA tabled a motion last year calling for the drafting of a telecommunications infrastructure policy.
Informed
Residents in Manor Gardens, where a mast appeared earlier this year in Clair Avenue, said they were not informed of any plans.
Speaking to the Daily News, Ivor Rickson and Graham McCallum, said residents were never engaged on the matter.
“Our councillor was not aware of this,” Rickson said.
Initially, when residents questioned workers, an official from Disaster Management said the work would stop until the dispute was resolved.
“Next thing, we come home to see three cement trucks parked outside to lay the cement,” Rickson recalled.
Residents in other communities including Glenwood, Morningside, uMhlanga and Chatsworth have reported an increase in headaches, and in some cases, muscle pain and depression.
A report titled “Cell Tower Health and Environmental Effected”, written by Joel Moskowitz, stated that in South Africa, government regulations protected residents only from thermal or heating risk.
“This is due to short-term exposure to high intensity cell tower radiation.
“The regulations ignore the hundreds of studies that find harmful bio-effects from long-term exposure to non-thermal levels of electromagnetic radiation,” said Moskowitz.
According to the Electromagnetic Radiation South Africa website, a study was done in 2012 on 250 people in Iran living within 300m of a cellphone base transceiver station antenna.
Nausea
The study revealed that the group showed signs of nausea, headaches, dizziness, irritability, discomfort, nervousness, depression, sleep disturbance, memory loss and a lowering of libido.
The conclusion of the report suggested that the antenna should not be sited closer than 300m to populations.
The DA has said that if it was unsuccessful in its attempts, it would lodge a formal application to obtain the agreement between MTN and the city.