Bid for answers on cell towers

THE DA in eThekwini is trying to get information on CCTV poles used as data towers.

It has lodged an application based on the Public Access to Information Act for this purpose after getting nowhere with previous attempts.

Councillor Shaun Ryley, who sits on the security and emergency services committee, said the city could not continue to make decisions without consulting residents properly.

Since late last year, residents have complained about cellphone towers having cropped up in various parts of eThekwini, saying the public was not consulted and MTN was piggybacking off the city’s infrastructure.

MTN confirmed last week, after months of not responding to queries, that it was renting the poles from eThekwini to carry 4G/LTE cables.

The city’s CCTV cameras, operated by the disaster management centre, are at the top of the poles.

“Despite an urgent motion tabled at a full council sitting in May and the subsequent submission of substantial questions to both the security and emergency services committee and the full council in June, we are no closer to getting any clarity on how a number of masts intended for CCTV cameras were fitted with cellphone signal transmitters in eThekwini,” said Ryley.

He said he had lodged an application to gain access to the information after requests for information to the city manager’s office received no reply.

“The city manager will have 30 days within which to respond to the application under the act, which should provide answers about the contents of this agreement and how it came into being without any consultation with councillors or residents of the city,” said Ryley.

He visited the city’s CCTV room and said further queries had been met with vague responses.

“This brings into question the intended purpose of the erection of the masts in the first place,” he said.