All true
I am very familiar with this case, and have seen most of the documents. I wrote a story about it for Saturday Star in 2004. It's a very complex situation, but the details in this current story are all correct.
It's very important to understand that this was a completely illegal mast, erected in the parking lot of a commercial garage that was zoned for "No structures whatsoever, including carports or canopies" -- without any process or adverts in the newspapers as is required for any mast of this size. You will see that Vodacom argued in court that a 20m high mast, disguised as a tree (constantly shedding plastic leaves), with transceiver boxes, warning lights, earthing wires, cooling units, and a whole rock feature at the base, was "not a structure".
I saw two letters from Mayor Amos Masondo of Johannesburg, instructing Vodacom to remove this mast. But of course with their deep pockets, the company could spin this out in the courts until the family was so desperate that they were forced into this settlement.
I spoke to the estate agent trying to sell their house -- he told me that over half of the people he brought would not even get out of the car when they saw this mast, blocking one of the best views in Jo'burg.
What is not mentioned in this story are the terrible health effects the family suffered. You can check out for yourself that constant low-level microwave irradiation causes a leukaemia-like condition where white blood cell counts rise. I saw the doctor's letters describing "inexplicable" lymphocytosis, and also how it equally inexplicably went into remission when Dino moved away from the mast on holiday for some months. The disease returned when he came back to the house.
For nearly 30 years, the Soviets irradiated the US embassy in Moscow with low-level microwaves (incidentally, the exact frequencies the Soviets "weaponised", 900MHz and 1800MHz, are now the frequencies we use for GSM -- this should make you stop and think. I have confirmed this with highly informed sources from British military intelligence). As I say, check for yourself -- a large number of personnel working at that embassy were discovered to have abnormally high white blood cell counts.
This was just one of the health problems the family suffered, all of which were consonant with the disease the Russians call "microwave sickness". Their dogs also died of strange tumours.
So a totally illegal mast is put up a few metres from your house; the radiation makes you sick and you cannot sell the property, because the mast has wrecked the view. So you are trapped, and made progressively more ill. (It was also damaging the trees, which were bending away from the mast, were scorched and cancerous -- the head of the Arboricultural Association did an inspection, and said the radiation was the only possible cause of these anomalies. He said -- "Trees are stronger than humans, if it's doing this to the trees, what's it doing to us?)
I spoke to one of Vodacom's lawyers, one Lesley Cohen. He described Dino as "emotional". How would you feel, if a totally illegal mast is erected next to your house; it gives you leukaemia; you can't sell the house because of the mast; and the lawyers tell you, you're "emotional"? Just think how you might react in such a situation.
I am really glad Dino has gone for the lawyers in this case. What happened here is one of the worst travesties of justice I have ever seen.
For interest, I'm posting in a story from Saturday Star that looked at this this mast, it is the first one mentioned.
Real cost of pylons and masts
by Lindi van Rooyen
Saturday Star, Johannesburg, December 4 2004
Nice house, but pity about the cellphone mast. People living near a cellphone mast and wishing to sell their houses may not get the prices they want. This is because prospective buyers believe that the masts and power lines are harmful.
A number of Joburg estate agents told Saturday Star of their battle to market properties situated near cellphone masts or power lines.
One family in Hurlingham Manor have been trying for five years to sell their R2,2-million house, but no one is interested because of the cellphone mast on the property next door.
The house is a prime property in Sandton and at one stage was advertised in Millionaire's Club magazine.
Herbie Ellison, estate agent with Seeff Properties and chairperson of Hurlingham Manor North Association, said the prospective buyers had expressed concern about the proximity of the cellular mast.
"I believe that the mast could cause surrounding properties to depreciate by about 35% to 50%," said Ellison.
Justin Sprong, estate agent for the past seven years with Wendy Machanik Properties in Hurlingham, said many people he took to the Hurlingham Manor property "did not even want to get out of the car once they had seen the mast.
"I have taken around 100 people to see that home: about 60% of them took one look and lost interest because of the mast."
Linda Timmers, manager of Top Realtors, agreed that a mast located near a house was bad for business.
"The mast reduces your clientele by 50%. Many prospective buyers see the mast and they are no longer interested. People do not want to live near a mast. Even those who buy property near a mast get the house for a bargain because the price is reduced."
Janks Property general manager Bernard Aronowitz said he also had experienced problems in selling houses near power pylons.
"We have never experienced a problem with properties near masts. But we have had difficulty in selling houses near pylons because some think it is dangerous to live in such close proximity to power lines."
International studies confirm that power lines and cellphone masts decrease the value of nearby properties.
The Northern Ireland Families Against Telecommunications found the masts could reduce property prices there by up to 30%.
In Germany, the monthly rental of a block of flats was forced down by 20% after a cellphone tower was installed on the building's roof.
