Newcastle Municipality Steps Up Action Against Illegal Advertising

For years, advertising posters and signs have become an increasingly common sight on Newcastle’s streetlight poles and other municipal infrastructure.

However, as their use by businesses and individuals has grown, the Newcastle Local Municipality has now begun tightening enforcement, with illegally placed advertising being physically removed across the town.

Speaking to Newcastillian News, Councillor Bertie Meiring, Chairperson of the Municipality’s Portfolio Committee for Development Planning and Human Settlements, said Newcastle had become increasingly inundated with illegal posters attached to streetlight poles and other municipal infrastructure.

He explained that the Town Planning Department had now launched a coordinated enforcement drive aimed at removing unlawfully placed posters and billboards across the municipal area.

“According to the Newcastle Municipality’s bylaws, no one or no business is allowed to advertise on any of the street poles or any other municipal infrastructure. In order to place any form of advertising material on any of the street lights in town, businesses and individuals need to approach the Newcastle Municipality, and pay the stipulated fee,” explained Councillor Meiring.

In other words, advertising on municipal infrastructure is not simply permitted by placing a poster or sign on a pole.

Businesses and individuals are required to follow the Municipality’s approval process and pay the applicable advertising fees before making use of municipal infrastructure or public spaces for promotional purposes, whether through street-pole posters, advertising trailers, billboards or other signage.

According to municipal officials, the revenue collected through approved advertising contributes towards service delivery within Newcastle.

Officials explained that this forms part of the Municipality’s broader revenue base used to support municipal work and services, including infrastructure maintenance such as pothole repairs, attending to burst water pipes and other service delivery-related requirements.

However, officials said a growing number of businesses and individuals had been bypassing these processes, resulting in posters and other advertising materials being placed unlawfully throughout the town.

Beyond the regulatory issue, Councillor Meiring and senior municipal officials highlighted concerns around lost municipal revenue, the appearance and cleanliness of public spaces, potential safety hazards and possible legal liability.

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Expanding on the safety concerns, senior municipal officials stated;

“When looking at the posters on the street lights, these could cause a car collision if it is not securely fastened to the pole, comes lose and flies onto a car’s window. If the business did not apply via the Newcastle Municipality, and their contact details are not readily available, this could open the Municipality to litigation as who does a member of the public hold responsible then?”

Officials further stressed that the enforcement operation would not be limited to posters attached to streetlights.

Illegal billboard structures have also been identified, with the Newcastle Municipality’s Town Planning Department recently removing a large unlawfully erected billboard in the Osizweni area as part of the enforcement drive.

Furthermore, while illegally placed advertising material is being removed, Councillor Meiring said the Municipality would also be looking into the parties responsible for the advertising and how the material came to be placed on municipal infrastructure.

“The Newcastle Municipality will be looking at who is responsible for the printing of the posters, and look at who is involved, and we will potentially be issuing fines to non-complaint businesses,” emphasised Meiring.

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The investigation therefore extends beyond simply identifying who physically placed a poster, with the Municipality indicating that it intends examining the wider chain of involvement surrounding illegally erected advertising.

Meiring added that the Town Planning Department’s current operation was only the beginning of a broader enforcement effort, with more illegal advertising material still identified across Newcastle.

“There is still a lot of these illegal posters in town, and we will be removing all of them, and applying the required consequence management where applicable,” he said.

With the enforcement operation now under way, businesses and individuals wishing to advertise on municipal infrastructure are being urged to first follow the Newcastle Municipality’s applicable approval and payment processes.

At the same time, the Town Planning Department is expected to continue removing unauthorised posters and billboards while investigating those responsible where further action may be warranted.

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