Between Cape Town and Paarl more and more billboards have recently popped up like mushrooms.
And in the midst of this chaos ensued when a billboard displaying a Real Housewives van die Wynland poster was ripped loose when a storm collided with overhead Eskom power lines, cutting the power in areas around Klapmuts for days.
This billboard had been illegally erected, like many of the other billboards, South African National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) spokesperson Melany Kuhn pointed out.
“Many billboards are illegal advertising boards erected on the N1, in direct contravention of the Sanral Act and Regulations on Outdoor Advertising.
“We have served notices for the removal of the unauthorised billboard and advertising structures. Where advertisers and property owners do not abide by the law, or refuse to cooperate, the matter is taken to court. Sanral endeavours to apply the standards it has to adhere to and will continue to work towards this goal, with the necessary diligence.”
The display of advertising signs along national roads is governed by the South African National Roads Agency Limited Act, No 7 of 1998, which does not permit advertisement signs to be displayed in a rural area, and only in an urban area of partial or minimum control (within a town context).
When an application for a billboard is submitted for the national road and it falls within an urban area of the municipality, that municipality usually grants their approval on condition of receiving the Sanral approval.
Municipal approval is required before the parastatal agency proceeds with the evaluation process of the application.
From a road-safety perspective, Sanral takes into account, among other things, the road layout and design, existing speed restrictions, existing road signs and advertising signs, distance from road traffic signs, the crash history at this location, any merges, road marking requirements and distances between interchanges on the approaches.
The following is the general criteria that is applicable to advertising signs on National Roads:
The approval of the landowner is obtained before any application can be forwarded to Sanral.
The municipality must indicate the following on a letterhead:. Full description of the property (erf/portion/extension).. The current land use of the property and the classification of the area (area of maximum, partial or minimum control) (zoning). A copy of the coning certificate of the said proposed site must be included in the submission.. The current building restriction area on a layout map.
After information has been obtained from the municipality and the landowner, the application form must be completed in full.
Approvals are valid for a five-year period, on which a new application must be submitted to Sanral at least six months before the expiry of the existing approval.
