Geluksburg Residents Battle Eskom Over Drakensberg High-Voltage Line Amid Environmental Concerns

The small village of Geluksburg in Drakensberg is bracing for a potential confrontation with South Africa's electricity public utility, Eskom, over plans to install a 400kV high-voltage transmission line. This project is aimed at strengthening the power connection between sub-stations in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. However, the local community has raised serious concerns about the environmental and procedural integrity of the undertaking.

Eskom's initiative is part of a larger strategy to deploy an additional 800km of transmission and distribution lines over the next three years. The proposed line, spanning 55km and designed to replace an existing 132kV line, has provoked the ire of Geluksburg residents. They point to what they perceive as a "fatally flawed" environmental impact assessment (EIA), executed by Johannesburg-based consultancy Phuka tsa Nong.

Notably, residents lament the insufficient public participation and information dissemination about the project's implications. An accidental distribution of notices and minimal outreach have created a scenario where much of the affected population remains uninformed. This has culminated in escalating tensions and an escalating sense of disenfranchisement among locals.

Consultants face issues surrounding outdated property registers and difficulties accessing landowner information. Geluksburg's residents express that these challenges do not excuse the controversial selection of the project’s route, which would envelop their village in steel towers, posing potential threats to the area's rich palaeolithic, ecological, and historic significance.

The EAP Consultancy's selected corridor, primarily passing through Geluksburg as opposed to two other sensitive areas, is seen by some as a strategy to avoid environmental barriers to approval. However, community members fear this choice could lead to further infrastructural development without additional community input or land acquisition processes.

Among the claims made against the consultants, one was that their report skewed in favor of minimal visual impact for tourists over the well-being of the community. Additionally, shortcomings in the biodiversity assessment failed to account accurately for the bird species in the region, omitting key endangered birds.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has conditionally accepted the Scoping Report with the stipulation that listed concerns be addressed. Residents, unsettled by the acceptance, argue for a restart of the assessment process, advocating for more accurate, contemporary studies that genuinely reflect the landscape's current state and the community's concerns.

The community anticipates that the newly appointed minister, Dion George, will offer a more pragmatic look into their grievances. Meanwhile, response efforts from Eskom on the matter have yet to materialize.

The full-scale implications of the project remain to be appraised, especially regarding its impacts on the local economy, property values, aesthetics, and biodiversity. The Department has assured residents that their objections will be considered in the application reviews and decision-making process. The extent to which conservation organizations like BirdLife SA are engaged in the situation remains unclear, along with the specifics of mitigating actions for the affected wildlife.

As the dispute unfolds, the residents of Geluksburg stand firm in their quest for just and thorough environmental scrutiny and are prepared to contend with Eskom's thrust for infrastructural expansion that could forever alter the Drakensberg landscape they call home.