DISGRUNTLED business owners around King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) and Buffalo City Metro (BCM) have complained about illegal posters pasted to their properties despite the municipalities’ campaigns to clamp down on the practice.
During a walk around Mthatha’s central business district, Daily Dispatch counted several posters advertising abortions, penis enlargements, car repairs, magic potions and gospel concerts.
Even the KSD municipality’s offices, in Munitata building, are not unaffected.
Business people who spoke to the Dispatch expressed their dissatisfaction with these posters.
National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesman in KSD, Vuyisile Ntlabathi, said they have been asking the municipality to act against the culprits for some time.
“These posters make the town look untidy and we are totally against it,” he said.
Siyabonga Nogudlwa, a human resources manager at Jimmy Spar, said the posters were put up at night and they would ask their security personnel to monitor the situation.
Business owners in the BCM Central Business District, are most affected. They said removing the posters cost money since BCM had allegedly failed to live up to its promise of a clean-up campaign.
Last year BCM launched a campaign warning offenders to remove posters, in an effort to clean up the city. But over a year later, many business owners are still battling the problem.
“The metro started a great initiative last year but after a few months they stopped working although we need them to crack down harder on the perpetrators,” said David Womoan from Mina Shopping Centre. Many posters on the walls advertise “100% safe abortion”, music shows and traditional treatment. Some are pasted on poles, traffic signs and rubbish bins.
Oliphant Sijadu, who works at Nyama Rama, said the workers had tried to remove the posters, but this did not deter the culprits.
“ It’s a bad reflection on the businesses and the metro but we don’t see them taking any action. We had to repaint the walls and this is costly,” he added.
BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese said: “It is true illegal posters are mushrooming; the municipality is trying its best to apprehend the perpetrators but it is difficult as they erect these posters at awkward and varying times.”
According to BCM’s by-laws it is illegal to affix unauthorised advertisements without the metro’s approval, on to these properties.
Odette Larkan, from Berlin’s DL Agricultural Suppliers, said calling the culprits on phone numbers they provided on the advertisements, proved to be a fruitless exercise.
“We just don’t know what to do anymore because we have called these people numerous times and they have apologised and promised to remove the posters but that has never happened. “Our properties have been damaged; they even have the audacity to put posters on our business signs and they do this during the night because we never see them during the day,” Larkan said.
Last year BCM said it would fine offenders R395 for every pasted poster but business owners said that has never happened.
“Law-enforcement services and the signage control branch issue notices to those offenders who we manage to track,” Matebese said. — /
Authorities told to act as illegal posters become a sticky issue
During a walk around Mthatha’s central business district, Daily Dispatch counted several posters advertising abortions, penis enlargements, car repairs, magic potions and gospel concerts.
Even the KSD municipality’s offices, in Munitata building, are not unaffected.
Business people who spoke to the Dispatch expressed their dissatisfaction with these posters.
National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry spokesman in KSD, Vuyisile Ntlabathi, said they have been asking the municipality to act against the culprits for some time.
“These posters make the town look untidy and we are totally against it,” he said.
Siyabonga Nogudlwa, a human resources manager at Jimmy Spar, said the posters were put up at night and they would ask their security personnel to monitor the situation.
Business owners in the BCM Central Business District, are most affected. They said removing the posters cost money since BCM had allegedly failed to live up to its promise of a clean-up campaign.
Last year BCM launched a campaign warning offenders to remove posters, in an effort to clean up the city. But over a year later, many business owners are still battling the problem.
“The metro started a great initiative last year but after a few months they stopped working although we need them to crack down harder on the perpetrators,” said David Womoan from Mina Shopping Centre. Many posters on the walls advertise “100% safe abortion”, music shows and traditional treatment. Some are pasted on poles, traffic signs and rubbish bins.
Oliphant Sijadu, who works at Nyama Rama, said the workers had tried to remove the posters, but this did not deter the culprits.
“ It’s a bad reflection on the businesses and the metro but we don’t see them taking any action. We had to repaint the walls and this is costly,” he added.
BCM spokesman Thandy Matebese said: “It is true illegal posters are mushrooming; the municipality is trying its best to apprehend the perpetrators but it is difficult as they erect these posters at awkward and varying times.”
According to BCM’s by-laws it is illegal to affix unauthorised advertisements without the metro’s approval, on to these properties.
Odette Larkan, from Berlin’s DL Agricultural Suppliers, said calling the culprits on phone numbers they provided on the advertisements, proved to be a fruitless exercise.
“We just don’t know what to do anymore because we have called these people numerous times and they have apologised and promised to remove the posters but that has never happened. “Our properties have been damaged; they even have the audacity to put posters on our business signs and they do this during the night because we never see them during the day,” Larkan said.
Last year BCM said it would fine offenders R395 for every pasted poster but business owners said that has never happened.
“Law-enforcement services and the signage control branch issue notices to those offenders who we manage to track,” Matebese said. — /
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