Stock Photograph of Mr Daren Stilwell removing illegal posters during the 67 minutes for Mandela Day clean up

The City of Joburg (CoJ) officials, ward councillors and the outdoor advertising industry have undertaken to fight the scourge of illegal outdoor advertising.

This came after CoJ noticed an increase in advertising signs on public and private land without council’s approval as required in terms of the 2009 Outdoor Advertising By-laws.

Development Planning and Economic Development, through the Joburg Property Company, undertook site inspections to collate information on the signs after council approved a 36-month transitional period in March this year.

In light of this resolution the CoJ issued a public notice on August 1 inviting owners of any advertising sign on any land to declare it to the City by September 30, irrespective of its legality.

The notice applies to all existing advertising signs that were erected and have been in existence prior to the declaration of the transitional period by CoJ.

In a statement issued by mayoral committee members Clr Leah Knott (economic development) and Clr Reuben Msango (development planning), it is stated the “transitional period” must be understood to be a principle that regulates the period that starts before an amendment or enactment of a law comes into force, and ends after the amendment or enactment of the law has come into force.

“At this stage, the new by-laws have not come into force hence this declaration. This was done in an effort to ensure that the sector is not disadvantaged while the new by-laws are suspended due to litigation.”

The council’s resolution to allow a transitional period was intended to, inter alia, address:

  • The growing clutter resulting from illegal advertising within the jurisdiction of the City.
  • Calling on the public to declare their illegal advertising assets on any land within its jurisdiction.
  • The request for the declaration of illegal signs is made with the intention of mitigating the need for instituting legal proceedings against owners of illegal signs. Once owners declare their illegal signs to the City, legal proceedings, which were intended to be instituted, will be pended in order to allow for discussions between the City and the respective owners. The purpose of the said discussions would be to determine which signs find favour with the City’s by-law (approvable signs) and which ones are contravening the by-law (not approvable). This will enable the City to engage the declaring party as to which signs may be approved and which are not approvable in terms of the by-laws.
  • To encourage the outdoor advertising industry to comply with the City’s outdoor advertising by-laws and thereby enabling the effective regulation of outdoor advertising as per section 156(1)(a) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996.
  • To oversee a fair, accountable, inclusive and transparent participation by the industry as a whole.

“The City has already undertaken to the sector that it will not take any punitive action against declaring party provided that an agreement is reached on a time frame to remove such sign if found to be non-compliant with the by-laws. There is no suggestion in the public notice issued by the City that provides for the current scenario where new advertising signs are illegally erected without due regard to applicable law in an effort to be eligible for such indulgence. What has also become apparent is that these illegally erected advertising structures are not branded to be able to immediately identify their owners.

“The City is tracing these faceless companies that are hindering efforts to restore law and order in the sector. This will be done through a structured period to phase out illegality from the sector in collaboration with law-abiding media owners. The City also re-implemented an emergency action plan to enforce its by-laws and this may include, inter alia, criminally charging the landowner, the signage company and the advertiser to ensure speedy resolution of this unprecedented rampant disregard of the law through applicable policies,” the statement by Knott and Msango reads.

CoJ urged brand owners or advertisers and their advertising agencies to contact the City in order to confirm legality of any such advertising sign before concluding any media contracts.

It is estimated that just over 90 per cent of all advertising signs in the City across all land ownership do not have the written or required approval of the City in terms of the by-laws and are therefore deemed to be illegal.

Advertising signs erected without approval contravene the technical specifications of the by-laws.

These illegal signs, often placed near intersections or traffic lights, may also pose a safety risk for motorists.

Article Source: https://joburgeastexpress.co.za