Residents of Emmarentia, Roosevelt Park and Linden are up in arms over the defacement of a wall over the Montgomery Bridge on 5th Avenue. The ‘culprit’ appears to be Frankie’s Plumbing Supplies.
Bill Bingham, a business owner from Emmarentia, said that the painting on the wall constituted advertisement and contravened the City of Joburg’s bylaws.
He added that no permission was granted to the business to paint the wall. “The painting appears to be directly painted onto the brickwork and so, presumably, will be a permanent defacement, if permission by the City is denied, will Frankies make good the damage?” he asked.
Ward 88 councillor Pat Richards said that she had been alerted to the incident by residents who claimed that they had been intimidated by Frankie after they tried to paint over the wall. “Residents are very unhappy about this painting. Anyone who would like to advertise on council property should apply to the City’s advertising department as well as JMPD as they are in charge of the bylaws,” Richards said.
She added that residents should log their complaints and thereafter send her a text message with the complaint as she could only help them once she had a reference number. The owner of Frankies, Frank Chalidis, admitted that he did not receive permission to paint the advert, adding all he was trying to do was put food on his and his employee’s tables.
He pointed out that the wall was defaced with graffiti before he painted his business advertisement on it and that none of the residents had expressed their dissatisfaction with him outright.
“The wall is not distracting traffic or harming anyone. It also does not look that bad; it’s better than it was before I painted on it,” he said. Chalidis denied any claim of intimidation and said that someone was found painting over his advertisement.
“I drove to Emmarenta and spoke with the man who I found painting over the wall; he was rude to me but I did not threaten or intimidate them in any way,” he said.
Details: Ward 88 councillor Pat Richards, 082 569 4452; JMPD 011 758 9100; City of Joburg 086 056 2874.
