Banner theft leads to loss of income for business

POLOKWANE – Jaco Kriel, the owner of a business called Mr. Fixer, recently fell victim to banner theft.

“I thought that by advertising there, I would save by not having to print pamphlets and that it would be seen by a lot of people, and at first, it worked,” Kriel said.

He added that advertising in this manner brought him a lot of customers up until a few weeks ago when the calls suddenly became less frequent. “I drove past the corner and to my surprise, I saw my banner had been removed,” he said.

He contacted the municipality to find out whether they had removed his banner for some reason, but they said it was not them.

Juan van der Merwe, a co-owner of Lamprint which is a company that prints banners, among other things, told Review that a banner like the ones being stolen cost between R2 000 and R2 500 to print. Then the cost of having the banner hung and being registered with the municipality, still has to be added.

Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala, said the removal of the banners constituted theft and vandalism and he warned that people found guilty of doing so, could face a criminal charge, be forced to pay hefty fines and even spend time in jail.

Municipal spokesperson, Tidimalo Chuene, concurred with Phala’s statement.