Outdoor advertisers warned to maintain cleanliness by adhering to by-laws
According to the City’s Billboards and the Display of Advertisements by-laws, no person shall erect or display any advertising signs or advertisements painted on a boundary wall, bridges, any water tower, reservoir or silo and all non-locality bound painted advertisements.
In decluttering its environment, the City of Ekurhuleni has launched operation Lungisa to get rid of illegal advertising material from the street.
According to Themba Gadebe, metro spokesperson, they will do so by deploying Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) personnel to identified hotspot areas.
“The illegal advertising, mostly on street poles, traffic lights, dustbins, bus stations, electrical infrastructure and other municipal property, have become intolerable eyesore,” said Gadebe.
He said the Central Business Districts are the mainly targeted areas due to the high number of foot traffic that attracts the illegal advertisers.
“The operation is being carried out with the EMPD. Removed signs and mobile bill boards will be impounded to the City’s storage facility until the owners comes to claim them, and be issued with applicable penalties.
He said electrical transformer boxes and dustbins are the most popular for pasted advertisements which damage the infrastructure when the adverts are removed and subsequently require repainting. This causes costly and unnecessary expenditure to the City.
“Some of illegal advertisements are placed without consideration to traffic signage by obscuring them, cause confusion or interference, and obstructing pedestrian traffic.
“Among the forbidden signage are banners and flags that advertise sale promotions or commercial products or events, or banners suspended across a road, affixed to a bridge spanning a road.
“The City’s Outdoor Advertising Management Committee (OAMC) keeps a register of all approved signs or advertising structures and allocate them a unique registration number that is displayed on the sign in a suitable, clearly visible position so that it can be identified as approved.
“This is to ensure seamless processing of outdoor advertising applications.
For any query on getting approval for advertising signs, and to discuss approval requirements, potential advertisers may contact the following Outdoor Advertising Control officers: Thandiwe Moloi (Kempton Park) on 011 999 3661 or Thandiwe.Moloi@ekurhuleni.gov.za or Susan Wilson (Germiston) on 011 999 999 0974 or Susan.Wilson@ekurhuleni.gov.za
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