Confiscation of advertising boards angers businessman

An upset businessman from the Moot lost more than 40 advertising boards recently when the metro confiscated them.

These boards had been fitted to fences and walls facing public spaces and did not take up any space on the sidewalk.

He told Rekord there was no warning from the metro that this would happen and no notification was given, even though his cellphone number was displayed on all of the boards.

“I had a phone call from a neighbour next to the property with the boards about a month ago who said staff of the metro were taking down my boards and even removing a big board of 3m. The metro cannot simply walk onto a property or on the sidewalk to merely just confiscate boards and then drive away. This is just not on,” complained the businessman, who wanted to stay anonymous because of fear of victimisation.

He did complain at the time to the staff taking down the boards, but they paid no heed to his questions and explanations.

“No reasons were given to me for the confiscation and they did not want to listen to any reasonable explanation from my side,” said the businessman.

To get the boards back from the metro would cost him R2 000 a board. “It is really not worth it when the cost to replace the boards is much lower,” he said.

One of the reasons why he would also not pay allegedly is that the offices in Visagie Street where the boards are kept are not conducive to ensuring they remain in the same condition as when they were confiscated.

“Very often the boards are just thrown to one side at this space. They are damaged and you have to search through a lot of boards to find yours. There is no system at this office,” he said.

He explained he would also not pay R600 to appeal the decision of the metro to take down the boards.

He believed that with the new by-laws regulating advertising boards, the process of applying to register as a business or person who wants to make use of boards in a public space is holding back possible entrepreneurs.

These new by-laws were promulgated on June 26.

Some of the aspects about the new by-laws that bother him are that the registering process in itself is full of red tape and takes ages.

“You can only apply to put boards up at a certain time of the day at the metro, which makes for long queues. As business people, we do not always have that sort of time. This process can and should be streamlined,” he said.

Metro spokesperson Goitsemang Molaeng confirmed that the aggrieved businessman is right.

“Where signs are erected onto a building or fence, the municipality will issue a contravention notice to warn the sign owner to apply for the display of the sign per the by-law for the control of outdoor advertising,” said Molaeng.

He said the 2006 by-law for the control of outdoor advertising promulgated in the Provincial Gazette on February 1, 2006, is now defunct. Only the new by-laws will be used by the metro in law enforcement.

He said except for street furniture signs, no person may erect, distribute, maintain or display a third-party advertisement or advertising sign that is visible from a public space. The exception is where the property or public space is in an area of partial or minimum control and only after the metro has specifically consented to this.

To clarify or obtain more information about application procedures to put up advertising boards, the public should write to outdooradvertising@tshwane.gov.za.

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