Vorna Valley residents believe BMU struggles with illegal advertising
Despite being on the quest since 2018 to have illegal advertising posters removed, Mark Straw refuses to abandon his task of taking them down.
“I believe that developers will continue putting up advertising boards on every lamppost and illegal advertising trailers will stay standing around all over the place,” says Mark Straw, a concerned resident who goes around Vorna Valley removing illegal posters.
This comes after a site meeting Straw held with officials from the By-Law Manegement Unit (BMU), a directorate under Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD), on August 22 on various roads in the Midrand area. They met at Janadel Avenue and Smuts Drive in Vorna Valley before driving to Noordwyk and Erand Gardens monitoring the spike of advertising posters.
After the meeting Straw said, “There is a major problem with issuing fines because of the differences between what is written in the fines book and what is in the current outdoor advertising bylaws. I get the sense that the BMU has too much to deal with – illegal land occupation, illegal structures, illegal connections and cannot just impound illegal advertising trailers.”
Straw said his job is thankless because despite how regularly he removes posters, new ones appear just as quickly. However, he refuses to abandon his task of taking down and transporting illegal signs to the nearest Pikitup depots in Midrand and Kyalami.
The paper then contacted JMPD’s spokesperson on August 25, asking him what the purpose of the meeting was, JMPD together with BMU’s plan to tackle illegal billboard advertising and the stiffness of dealing with the illegal billboards.
Fihla only responded on September 4, saying the purpose of the meeting was to fine-tune the enforcement of illegal advertising in Midrand, following complaints and active public participation by residents.
“The (BMU) By-Laws Management Unit is a directorate that falls under JMPD and officers from the unit daily remove illegal posters and signage found displayed and erected,” said Fihla.
He said according to the by-laws, no person may erect an advertising sign or use or continue to use an advertising sign or any structure or device as an advertising sign without the prior written approval of the city.
Fihla said the owner of an advertising sign and/or the owner of the property on which the approved advertising sign is to be erected must ensure that such sign is designed or located so as not to contradict the outdoor advertising by-laws.
“If an advertising sign is erected without the municipality’s approval, the personnel of the Outdoor Advertising Section are entitled to remove the structures unhindered. Removed signs will be impounded at the municipality’s storage facility for 30 days and if they are not claimed within this period, they will be destroyed. You will have to pay a fine when claiming your signage. The amount of the fine depends on the form that was used to advertise,” added Fihla.
He urged members of the public to report illegal adverts in the City of Johannesburg at 011 490 1547 / 011 758 9624.
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