Expropriation will be the last resort – Eskom
Almost 50 per cent of the line is acquired and negotiations are on-going with the land owners.
THE RECORD recently published a resident’s letter in which he claimed he was threatened with expropriation by Eskom’s property consultants if he did not allow them to build planned power lines (pylons) on his land.
Eskom comments:
“Eskom Transmission is proposing 2 X 400KV overhead power lines which will traverse approximately 300 private properties, with a distance of 120km in length from Matla Power Station situated in Mpumalanga to a new substation to be named Jupiter B in Rosherville, Gauteng. The purpose of the project is to strengthen the network in Gauteng and increase the much-needed capacity to meet the high demand of electricity in the province. The project is critical for Gauteng’s economy.
“As required by law, public participation meetings were held with the interested and affected parties in 2010, after which the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) granted the environmental approval on April 6, 2011.
However, due to unforeseen challenges with some of the affected land owners, including no cooperation and space constraints in built up areas, Eskom was granted the extension in 2014 (for three years). The required servitude width for the project is 110 metres, however due to the non-availability of space, we proposed a double circuit (two sets of power lines on the same structure) in some areas. Aurecon SA was appointed to do the negotiations on behalf of Eskom to acquire the required servitude rights.
“Almost 50 per cent of the line is acquired and negotiations are on-going with the land owners.
“According to the report from our negotiators, Growthpoint Properties Pty Ltd was engaged and they even did their own evaluation. It is therefore misleading to say the company/landlord is not aware of the project (as stated by complainant who wrote the initial letter).
Eskom doesn’t want to go the expropriation route as we want to have a good relationship with all the land owners, therefore it is seen as the very last resort for acquiring servitude rights,” said Dikatso Mothae from the Eskom media desk.
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