The City of Ekurhuleni is after illegal advertisers cluttering the streets of the City.
Ekurhuleni launched operation Lungisa to get rid of illegal advertising material on the streets and deployed Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) personnel to identified hot spot areas.
The illegal advertising, mostly on street poles, traffic lights, dustbins, bus stations, electrical infrastructure and other municipal property, has become an intolerable eyesore. Central business districts (CBDs) are the main target areas due to the high number of foot traffic that attracts the illegal advertisers, said Themba Gadebe, spokesperson for the metro.
The operation is being carried out with the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department. Removed signs and mobile bill boards will be impounded in the City’s storage facility until the owners come to claim them. The owners will be fined.
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.
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, said Gadebe.
Some 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 keeps a register of all approved signs or advertising structures and allocates 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 or to discuss approval requirements, call Thandiwe Moloi on 011 999 3661 or email Thandiwe.Moloi@ekurhuleni.gov.za
