{
  "id": 19337798,
  "title": "Here’s how much Johannesburg and Cape Town fine political parties for election poster ‘littering’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/heres-how-much-johannesburg-and-cape-town-fine-political-parties-for",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-10T13:33:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/news/johannesburg-cape-town-fine-political-parties-election-littering/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Election campaigns have transitioned from the streets to boardrooms, but political posters remain a nuisance on streetlights and poles in Johannesburg and Cape Town. On Tuesday, the municipalities of both cities reminded political parties of their responsibility to remove these eyesores within specified timeframes.\n\nThe cities have differing fines for the parties, but both emphasize the reasons for removal. The Johannesburg municipality explains that leaving campaign materials up indefinitely is a form of public littering, detracting from the city's appearance, compromising road safety, and defacing municipal assets. They urge political parties to show civic responsibility by promptly cleaning up public spaces utilized during the election campaign.\n\nCape Town's City of Cape Town (CoCT) distributed guidelines on posters and swivel banners before the elections. They set a hard deadline of November 18, urging residents to report any posters remaining after that date to the relevant political parties. If posters are not removed within this deadline, the city will remove them at the political party's expense, charging R123.48 per poster or banner, excluding VAT.\n\nIn Johannesburg, posters violating section 28 of the municipality's outdoor advertising by-laws will remain in violation for two weeks after the election. Transgressing parties will initially receive a warning before being fined by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department. Posters left up after this period will result in a formal notification from the city, giving the party a specified timeframe to clear them. The city will impose a penalty fee of R500 per poster directly to the non-compliant political party to recover removal costs. All election materials must be completely cleared within the legally prescribed grace period to maintain the city's infrastructure free of clutter and aesthetic degradation.",
  "summary": "Political parties in Cape Town have until next Wednesday to remove election posters while those in Johannesburg will get an extended warning.",
  "key_points": [
    "Johannesburg and Cape Town fine parties for election poster littering.",
    "Johannesburg fines start after election, up to R500 per poster.",
    "Cape Town deadline is November 18, charges R123.48 per poster."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "IOL",
        "title": "Suspect arrested after R449,000 stolen from Cape Town businessman’s car",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/suspect-arrested-after-r449-000-stolen-from-cape-town-businessmans-car",
        "published": "2026-11-10T11:07:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}