Matthew Savides
16 December 2008
The DA has lashed out at the ANC for allegedly erecting posters for a party rally to be held next weekend without following the correct procedures in terms of eThekwini Municipality's bylaws.
According to the bylaws, posters have to be approved by the council before going up. Should approval be given, a sticker indicating this is placed on each poster.
The posters for the ANC's December 21 rally do not display this sticker.
DA caucus leader John Steenhuisen said the ANC appeared to have "ignored" the regulations, not for the first time.
At the full council meeting at the end of August, the DA asked whether posters erected by the ANC for a meeting then had been submitted for approval, to which the ANC admitted that this had not been done and its provincial secretary had apologised for this.
The ANC also admitted that municipal manager Michael Sutcliffe had ordered it to remove the posters, adding that the party "has committed itself to ensuring that, in the future, applications will be made".
Steenhuisen said: "It is unacceptable that the ANC continues to flout the signage by-laws. It is clear they believe that, because they are the ruling party on the council, they are somehow above the law.
"As the ruling party on the council, the ANC should be setting the example for other residents, businesses and organisations. It is hypocritical in the extreme to demand standards from others when the ANC cannot even follow these."
He said the party would ask Sutcliffe to order the ANC to remove the posters and to take "appropriate action", likely in the form of fines.
"Given the partisan political nature of the Sutcliffe administration, we hold out little hope that the ANC will be dealt with in an impartial manner.
We do, however, expect the municipal manager to do his duty and uphold the bylaws and policies of his administration," he said.
Officials at the municipality's signage department would not say whether the correct procedures were followed.
Various ANC representatives said the correct application procedures were followed.
ANC spokesperson Nomfundo Mcetywa said: "We did apply through the eThekwini region, so no bylaws have been broken. If there are no stickers, there must be oversight somewhere."
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