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Putting up posters without council
permission is illegal, and offenders are being charged.
THEY are seen everywhere - on walls, trees,
lamp posts and even on the newly installed swing bins in the inner city.
Posters, advertising various services, are
pasted up all over town with glue or some other highly adhesive stuff to make
sure they are not easily removed. In some places, some people have tried to
tear them off - unsuccessfully.
Posters are seen everywhere
Hillbrow, Berea, Yeoville and the city centre are rife
with such posters advertising services from "safe abortions" to "free healing".
One very prolific advertiser is Pastor Ngwenya, whose advertisement says he
hails from Bulawayo, in Zimbabwe. There
are literally hundreds of his posters scattered all over the inner city.
The A4 posters, mostly in red and blue
print, describe Ngwenya as "Umacomputer: King of all problems", a pastor who
solves any problem and gives free healing to the infirm. There is a red cross in
the top right-hand corner and two cellphone numbers are boldly displayed.
Yet another poster that dominates the face
of the inner city advertises the services of two prophets, Prophet Mzumba and
Umama Umatshuma, who hail from Binga. They also promise "free healing for all".
Posters appear in the most unlikely of
places: on road signs, on the pavements and on bollards.
Abstract art
A building at the corner of Claim and Caroline streets in Hillbrow looks like a
piece of abstract art, with a plethora of posters covering its outer wall.
Ngwenya's posters fight for space with others advertising "cheap driving
schools", "computer lessons" and DSTV installation services.
For those with clinical problems, Dr Hassam
and Dr Mukasa from Uganda
are at your service. The two list their services on their posters, from dealing
with various ailments to remedies for marital problems and guaranteed riches for
those who want to get rich quickly.
Besides defacing buildings and being an eyesore
to the public, the posters are illegal, according to Nthatisi Modingoane, the
City's deputy director of communication.
"In terms of the City's by-laws people who
wish to advertise around the city have to seek permission first. All these
posters that are pasted on walls and street poles are illegal."
According to the outdoor advertising
by-laws, all outdoor advertising must be approved by the City. They state that
no person may erect any advertising sign or use or continue to use any
advertising sign or structure as an advertising sign without the written
approval of the council.
Applications for advertising must be made
by submitting an application form and the prescribed fee. Written consent from
the owner of the property where the advertisement will be displayed must
accompany the application form.
Illegal
The by-laws categorically state that if the advertisements are "detrimental to
the nature of the environment", are unsightly, pasted on road signs or on to
any surface of private or council property, they become illegal.
"The procedure that the City follows to
remove such posters is simple: the by-law enforcement unit removes such posters
and compiles them. The offending person is then charged after the removal of
all the posters," says Modingoane.
There have been arrests of people
contravening the City's outdoor advertising by-laws over the past months, he
adds.
"There are telephone numbers that appear on
these posters that have led us to arrest some of these culprits. However, we
follow a process where people are educated and told to remove any illegal
posters."
Contacted for comment about his
advertisements, Ngwenya, who says he operates from a building on the corner of
Twist and Plein streets in the city centre, said he had no idea he was contravening
any by-laws by putting up his ads willy-nilly.
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