Elections over, posters still remind voters

While the 2016 municipal elections are something of the past, some election posters advising the public to vote for whatever political party or ward councillor are still to be removed.
Some of the posters are now in disrepair and should have been removed by the political parties that applied for permission to display and paid the prescribed deposits.
Clause 6(2) of Polokwane Municipality’s Advertising By-laws stipulates that no poster or other advertisement may be displayed later than midnight of the fourth day after election day. Clause 8 of the By-laws also prescribes that the relevant deposits may only be refunded once all the posters relating to the specific deposit have been removed to the satisfaction of the municipality. In the case of non-removal of the posters within the prescribed time, a criminal offence is committed and the municipality may forfeit a part or all of the deposit.
At time of going to print, the municipality could not confirm whether any deposits were paid, and if so, which deposits were refunded.
Disree Manyane, Stakeholder Relations Officer of the municipality however informed that, compared to previous elections, political parties swiftly responded to remove their posters in time. “The municipality has issued a notice to all political parties informing them to remove their posters within 14 days after election day and another notice was issued after the deadline. The municipality‘s outdoor advertising management services will be removing the posters from the street lights and the cost of removal will be passed on to the affected parties,” Manyane confirmed and invited the public to report instances of non-removal of posters on 015 290 2290.

Story and photo: BARRY VILJOEN
>>barryv.observer@gmail.com

Featured photo: 2016 municipal election posters on the corner of Marshall and Dorp streets have not been removed yet.