Stop Vumatel/Fibrehoods Street Pole installation in Magaliessig

Vumatel and Fibrehoods install fibre in Northern Johannesburg suburbs. You may have seen them with the pink banners and coloured pipes being installed in the ground.

They've done a great job in areas, particularly when it is underground installations.

But what you don't know is that they recently moved into the Magaliessig area to install above ground gum poles for their fibre, and confessed that they DID NOT get public participation before doing the installation.

Unfortunately gum poles look ugly and could degrade the appearance of the area... this is what Magaliessig could look like (photo from a Randburg area installation)...

Source: Randburg Sun

And what is REALLY disturbing is this is not the first time they have done this without public participation, even though they report they actually do!

Read for yourself...

Dave Fischer, chief operations officer from Fibrehoods, the company installing fibre to the home in the suburb, said they always engage the area’s residents’ associations or ward councillors first to ensure awareness and support.

In a recent communication with Vumatel, they have stated they are willing to handle public concerns at a Town Hall Meeting (details below), but in the same communication they say...

Vumatel has gathered significant support from the community and has the necessary council permission to complete this project. The roll-out will continue after the Town Hall meeting has taken place.

This effectively means they plan to continue the installation regardless of public input and again claim they have support.

It seems that Vumatel and Fibrehoods are only interested in financial gains and not doing things the right way. Perhaps another South African organisation who doesn't care about the public in general.

Sure... we all want fibre as much as the next person, but not getting our input and implementing an ugly solution which downgrades the area is not right.

Town Hall Meeting date and time...
Date: Monday 29 May 2017
Time: 19h00
Place: Royce Hall, St Peter's Prep School (105 Witkoppen Rd, Lone Hill).