On Monday, September 12, Sammy Masete, the tourism officer for MLM, posted a notice on several Hoedspruit Facebook groups and pages, warning business owners that the municipality would begin removing illegal outdoor advertisements from Tuesday, September 13. The notice read, “Take note that Maruleng Local Municipality, starting from the 13th September 2022 will be enforcing the by-law by removing all advertisements (billboards) that are not in compliance.

You are therefore advised to either make applications and payments for your billboards or remove them yourself. Failure to do so the municipality will remove with penalties.” Masete told the Herald that businesses must follow the correct application procedure and ensure that they pay the annual fees to stay compliant. Businesses that fail to comply will face a penalty of R4 000 for non-renewal of billboards and/or R2 706.60 if the municipality has to remove their billboards.

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The penalty for the illegal placement of a board will cost the business 10% of the cost of the board. Several residents applauded this announcement in comments on the posts, as the number of illegal signs dotted along Hoedspruit’s streets and roads “have been a real eyesore in our beautiful town and have been a subject of debate among locals for quite a while”, one resident told the Herald.

The by-law – as printed in the Limpopo Province Provincial Gazette, Vol. 28, No: 1396, dated 10 September 2021 – states that an advertising sign should not be detrimental to the environment; that it should not constitute a danger to any person or property; not display any material that is indecent, suggestive of indecency, prejudicial to public morals or (be) objectionable in the ‘opinion of the municipality; not obliterate any other signs; not in the opinion of the municipality be unsightly or detrimentally impact a sound architectural design, and should not in any way impair the visibility of any road traffic sign or affect the safety of motorists or pedestrians.

A copy of this gazette can be viewed free of charge on www.gpwonline.co.za. A once-off application fee of R622.56 is payable upon approval by the MLM with a monthly rate of R80.17 per m² which is payable in advance for a period of twelve months. Interested or affected parties are welcome to contact Sammy Masete on 072 339 7563, (015) 110 0602, or maseteletoane@yahoo.