Cape Town – The City of Johannesburg has given all political parties that contested in the just-ended local government elections 14 days to remove their campaign posters from street light poles or risk facing a fine.
In a statement, the City said the move was in terms of Section 28 of the City’s Outdoor Advertising Bylaws (2009) which stipulated that posters must be removed within 14 days after the conclusion of an election or voter registration.
“Parties that contested the election must remove campaign posters within 14 days after the elections,” the statement quoted Acting City Manager for the City of Johannesburg Floyd Brink as saying.
Failure by the parties to remove the posters within the stated period could result in the City removing them itself against a prescribed fee per poster.
Every poster that is removed by the City after the grace period will be tallied up for each party and a fine of R1 000 per poster is issued accordingly, the City said.
“We trust that all the parties will do what is required of them in terms of the bylaws. It is a short time, hence the further grace period but the City cannot become unsightly due to posters that no longer have relevance and it almost becomes a type of littering if left unchecked,” Brink said.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town has given the political parties until November 16 to also remove the posters and banners, IOL reported.
The report said that in general, election posters in the Mother City must be removed within 10 days after the elections. However, the City has decided to grant all parties an additional five days to comply and to avoid being penalised.
“Political parties are allowed one election poster per party per street light pole and one additional event poster per party, per street light pole. Posters that are not removed within this deadline will be removed by the City of Cape Town at the political party’s cost at R128.00 per poster,” the report quoted City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo as saying.
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Compiled by Reginald Nhlapo
