Metro police drove down Hendrik Potgieter Road removing illegal advertising notices in the Wilgeheuwel and Little Falls area.
The police started on the corner of Hendrik Potgieter and Van Staden Road removing advertising that did not have permission to be placed along the roadside.
Superintendent Wandile Mrubata explained companies are not allowed to advertise outside of their property unless they have sought permission from the City. If permission is granted, it will be displayed by a sticker on the placard.
Mrubata said that even if the placards have a permission sticker, they are not meant to be placed on traffic lights but only on streetlight poles.
Posters or adverts that have been removed are taken back to the Metro offices to be traced back to the advertising company. The company will then be fined for each placard. The fines range from R1 500 to R5 000 for the advertising trailers.
Mrubata explained that the owners of advertising trailers normally remove the trailer’s wheels and tow bar, which makes it very difficult for Metro police to remove them, some of which are not even roadworthy. The superintendent explained that the trailers are meant to be removed at night and can be brought back in the morning but it contravenes the bylaws to leave the trailer in one spot overnight.
“Illegal advertising is a huge problem which I am hoping to address via the S79 development planning committee. I have also spoken to outdoor advertising companies about the challenges we face and hope to come up with some solutions,” said Ward 97 councillor Leah Knott.
“I recently met with Rock Cottage Shopping Centre management and we discovered that many businesses don’t actually know the bylaws and we eliminated a lot of illegal trailers via this meeting, as management sent out correspondence to all their tenants informing them of illegal practices. Essentially, our homes are being turned into commercialised areas and it’s honestly not acceptable,” Knott added.
