uMhlanga ‘sex’ posters earns residents’ ire

POSTERS advertising a local escort agency have caught more than just Umhlanga Rocks Drive motorists’ eyes. It has also caught the attention of parents who have accused the municipality of promoting prostitution. The point of contention is with three posters on light poles along the busy road showing a silhouette of a woman with the saying ‘SA’s premier adult website’.

While there is no graphic content on the posters, the website it advertises is explicit. It shows mainly naked women from around the country including those from Durban North and uMhlanga showing off their bodies provocatively. The posters have local residents up-in-arms and they want to know why the municipality’s signage department authorised them.

Local ward councillor, Heinz de Boer, said residents who strongly objected to the posters must contact him. “I have no influence on the signage department and though this does constitute a form of prostitution, I cannot physically take down the posters. If residents feel there is no place for these type of posters, they should direct all complaints to me,” De Boer said.

One irate resident, Jackie Covelli, said as a mother of an inquisitive daughter, the posters would be unacceptable. “For my 8-year-old to question what the poster is advertising is deeply disturbing. This is just insane, there should be regulations in place or at least advertise it in a manner that doesn’t include busy roads. It would raise questions that I personally don’t feel are appropriate for her age, when we are only starting to discuss the ‘birds and bees’. This is so blatantly advertised,” Covelli said.

Another resident who spoke to Northglen News said: “As a mother, no matter how well we think we raise our kids, they are still hormone driven teens and though my son may not ask what Red Velvet is, he will Google it because the poster caught his eye and he will tell his mates about it as well. I guess this is what the poster aims to achieve but it is fighting against everything I am trying to instill in him on a daily basis one of them being that women are not sex objects.”

There has been no response from the eThekwini Municipality so far.