Court orders Eskom to remove Midrand pylons

POWER utility Eskom has been ordered to remove pylons and electricity lines over a servitude on a property in Midrand — the first of a number of complaints pending in the area.

Wayne van der Burgh is one of 11 property owners in Beaulieu, in Midrand, who launched an application last year to review Eskom’s conduct in the erection of a new power line over their properties. The residents say the electromagnetic fields from exposed power cables pose a risk of children contracting leukaemia.

Eskom had decided to upgrade certain power lines that connect two substations — the Lulamisa substation located in Diepsloot and the Crowthorne substation in Crowthorne — as a result of development in the Midrand area.

Eskom’s project has entailed the total dismantling and removal of the former 88kV electrical pylons and transmission lines situated on the homeowners’ properties, and the replacement of these pylons and transmission lines with “double circuit twin tern” lines built according to 132kV specifications.

Eskom conceded in September last year that the H-pole infrastructure it built on Mr van der Burgh’s property was outside the ambit of the servitude area applicable to his property. Mr van der Burgh had asked for the offending pole to be removed without success before he launched the application.

In her judgment last Friday, North Gauteng High Court Judge Fayeeza Kathree-Setiloane said that in view of Eskom’s admitted unlawful erection of its H-pole structures, it had no right to the continued presence of these structures on Mr van der Burgh’s property because they fell outside the servitude.

“The applicant is therefore entitled, as owner, to have the structures that fall outside the ambit of the servitude removed immediately,” the judge said.

She ordered Eskom to remove the offending structures from Mr van der Burgh’s property within 30 days and ordered it to pay his costs.

Eskom said on Tuesday that it had noted the court’s decision and was studying the judgment in order to determine the next course of action.

In their application, which was heard partially last month and which will continue in December, the homeowners said their main argument included Eskom’s failure to consult parties affected by the new lines, a violation of the homeowners’ constitutional rights to a healthy and safe environment, as well as a failure to obtain the necessary environmental, town planning and building approvals before constructing the new line.

Earthlife Africa, Greenpeace Africa and the Electronic Radiation Research Foundation of SA have been admitted as friends of the court.