Wireless broadband provider iBurst is asking the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to sanction the continued use of 30 towers that were illegally erected.
iBurst was found guilty last November of erecting 30 towers around Gauteng without following the proper environmental procedures. It entered a plea and agreed to pay R90 000 in total as a fine.
The company has since applied to the agriculture department to rectify the towers. However, this is an onerous process and requires that iBurst advertise in the press, and issue notices about the towers' construction to residents.
Residents of Craigavon, in northern Johannesburg, have previously complained that iBurst did not follow these requirements and did not inform the community before erecting a tower near a cemetery in the suburb, a claim that iBurst has denied.
Found guilty
Makoko Lekola, media liaison officer in the agriculture MEC's office, explains that the department's Environmental Management Inspectorate - also known as the green scorpions - registered 30 criminal cases with the police in the south Gauteng area.
The charges were laid against iBurst owner Wireless Business Solutions (WBS) for contravening a section of the 1989 Environmental Conservation Act. WBS was accused of unlawfully going ahead with erecting the masts, says Lekola.
No choice
The section 24G application, a copy of which is in ITWeb's possession, explains that WBS obtained a licence from the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) in 2004 and was “compelled” to provide broadband services as a result.
“In view of the ICASA licence conditions, WBS had no choice other than to commence with construction of its base station sites as soon as possible,” WBS states. The company is also concerned that its corporate and public image will suffer if it is found to have “transgressed legislative requirements”.
Thami Mtshali, who took up the position of CEO in May after Jannie van Zyl resigned, referred ITWeb's enquiry to Pearlene Singh, who is head of legal at iBurst. Singh says iBurst has sites erected under two different Acts and has submitted applications for rectification, which are currently with the department.
Singh did not clarify why the towers were put up illegally in the first place.
In January, Van Zyl told ITWeb that iBurst had fixed all the issues surrounding 13 of its towers, and had complied with all the requirements regarding the Gauteng towers for which it was issued rectification notices.
Van Zyl said rectification notices were issued to the company because it had to amend certain aspects of the paperwork process in applying for approval. He said the matter is a non-issue and has been resolved.
It is not clear what will happen with the 30 towers if iBurst does not meet with the requirements for its rectification application to be approved.
Related story:
iBurst towers 'rectified'
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