Joburg businessman flouts municipal bylaws, erects steel structure for billboard

17 September 2021 - 17:32
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The City of Johannesburg wants a businessman who erected a steel structure to put up a billboard to pay for the costs of removing it.
The City of Johannesburg wants a businessman who erected a steel structure to put up a billboard to pay for the costs of removing it.
Image: SUPPLIED

A ward councillor in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, hopes the court will hand a stiff sentence to an advertising company owner who erected a steel structure to house a billboard without following municipal bylaws.

Amelia Bester, the ward 89 councillor, said she had received a message from the then MMC for economic development in the City of Johannesburg in 2019 about a structure that had been put up on the bridge over Hendrik Potgieter Road.

“I put a call out to the community members to help us to keep an eye on that bridge for when the guys come back,” she said.

Two days later, Bester received a call late at night that the men who had erected the structure had returned to finish what they started.

“We contacted the JMPD and on site we impounded the vehicle and all their tools. The JMPD contacted the owner and we all went to the Honeydew police station to open a case,” she said.

Bester said she opened a case of malicious damage to city-owned property.

The case is now before the Roodepoort magistrate’s court, but Bester is not pleased with the pace at the matter has been moving at.

“We’ve had countless postponements. The prosecution changed prosecutors many times. Every time we went to court, the new person would be unfamiliar with the case and it would be postponed,” she said.

The company owner, Tebogo Ntsoelengoe, and his employees initially pleaded not guilty.

However, when the matter went back to court this week for trial, Ntsoelengoe pleaded guilty.

“We await the magistrate’s determination on the matter,” said Bester.

Contacted on Friday, the businessman declined to comment.

“I do not have anything to say to you,” he said.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the case was postponed to September 28 for sentencing.

We need to recoup some of the money to fix that bridge. I hope they come up with a creative solution to the problem, otherwise we might go the civil route.
Amelia Bester, ward councillor

“This is a matter that could have been dealt with quickly. We had so many witnesses and such a good body of evidence. Every time we had a court appearance, the whole lot of us were there. We are waiting to see what the determination is. We might take further action,” Bester said.

Bester said if the court gave Ntsoelengoe a light sentence, the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Roads Agency would file a civil suit.

“If they fine the man, that money goes to the state coffers. The city doesn’t get it to repair the bridge. We need to recoup some of the money to fix that bridge. I hope they come up with a creative solution to the problem, otherwise we might go the civil route.”

According to Bester, before putting up a billboard, an advertiser has to apply to the city for outdoor advertising and provide the board's specifications.

“You also have to make an application to the Johannesburg Roads Agency if you intend to place a billboard over a bridge.”

Ntsoelengoe did not do this, she said.

Bester said the cost of removing the structure was estimated at R275,000.

“The state has to draw a line in the sand and say these are the consequences for you if you do not comply with the city’s bylaws.”

TimesLIVE


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