D-day for all political posters tomorrow

By Margaret Maluleka
According to municipal by-laws, political parties have until tomorrow to remove their political posters.

In terms of section 33/3 of the by-laws implemented in August last year by the National Council of Municipalities parties have 14 days after the elections are finalised to remove their posters, and failure to comply with the law will result in a hefty fine for the party. Should parties fail to comply with the law the local municipal council will remove the posters which would now be classified as unauthorised and parties will have to foot the bill.

Parties will be fined R100 for the removal of posters which are tied to poles and R500 for all pasted posters. Parties will pay R1 000 or more for each of their fly posters, which are the larger posters. The removal of all the unauthorised posters will start on Saturday with 50% added to the total fine for parties who fail to comply.

"All political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) have been informed about these by-laws and therefore are expected to comply with them," says Virgil James, a spokesperson for the City of Johannesburg.

"If our workers have to work on Sunday there will be a 100% hike in the fine for all posters removed," says James.