Joburg tackles illegal outdoor advertising

29 January 2016

 

More than half of outdoor advertising billboards, banners and posters in Johannesburg have been illegally erected and do not comply with the applicable Outdoor Advertising bylaws, says Jack Sekgobela, the City of Johannesburg’s Outdoor Advertising Operations Manager.

 

But he warns that this will soon be a thing of the past as the City will begin to charge landlord rates and taxes on the properties where such signs have been erected. “Such a transgression falls under illegal use as per the rates policy penalties,” Sekgobela says.

Should the property owner fail to honour the stipulated penalties for illegal use, the outdoor advertising unit shall instruct the City’s Rates Policy department to disconnect water and electricity on the property, Sekgobela warns.

“The advertising industry must be aware that Section 3(1) makes it illegal to erect any sign prior to the written approval of the Council.”

With the local government elections on the horizon, Sekgobela advises political parties to familiarise themselves with Sections 27 and 28 of the by-law.

“Any political party or interested person who may want to get mileage from outdoor posters must familiarise themselves with the bylaws,” he says. The Outdoor Advertising Unit, will in conjunction with the JMPD, identify and remove illegal posters without any notice to the owners of the posters that have been erected illegally, he says.

Election campaigns have already kicked off, albeit unofficially as the poll date has not yet been set, and candidates will soon start using all mediums of communications - including outdoor advertising billboards and banners - to put their messages across. We are mindful that this is the period of high activity for the independent electoral commission and several campaigns have already kicked off across the city. The public is therefore made aware that this cannot be used as a licence for clutter and urban blight.

Sekgobela adds that no party or media owner is allowed to erect or keep an advertising sign within 20 metres of any traffic intersection.

“Our main problem really is not with banners and blimps, but with huge signs that are erected across the landscape of the city illegally," Sekgobela says.

“In cases where signs are found to have been erected illegally, the city has to incur costs by taking the responsible media owner to court in getting the illegal sign removed. Often such cases end up in court and take a long time before they are resolved.

Sekgobela’s statement comes in the wake of the brouhaha surrounding the "Zuma Must Fall" banner erected illegally at a Cape Town building and as the country gears up for the local government elections later this year.

"The most reckless part of our business community is situations where; Some people just wake up in the morning and, because they've got some money, decide to go and put up signs, " says Sekgobela.

He says illegally erected billboards put residents’ lives at risk of injury or death, most emphatically to vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
"If such an illegal structure were to be blown away, a whole lot of accidents could take place ... That's where the problem comes in," Sekgobela points out.

The implications are that the city will shoulder the responsibility of litigation as it is the Regulator and the Custodian of the bylaws.

For more information, email the outdoor advertising unit at thamisi@joburg.org.za or call 0114076062.