Johannesburg
South Africa
South Africa
Outdoor Advertising By-law, 2018
- Published in Gauteng Provincial Gazette 146 on 30 May 2018
- Commenced on 30 May 2018
- [This is the version of this document from 30 May 2018 and includes any amendments published up to 7 March 2025.]
Preamble
The City Manager of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality hereby in terms of section 13(a) of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 32 of 2000, read with section 162(2) of the Constitution, 1996, publishes the Outdoor Advertising By-law for the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality as approved by its Council which will come into operation on the date of promulgation of this notice.Chapter 1
Interpretation and application
1. Definitions
In these By-laws, unless the context otherwise indicates –"adjoining" means all the adjoining property owners/occupiers which include the properties on the opposite side of a street or lane;"advertisement" means any representation by a word, or abbreviation thereof, letter, logo, symbol, sign, figure, painting, drawing or other pictorial representation, or light, displayed in or in view of any public place, Provincial or National Road within the jurisdiction of the City for the purpose of drawing the attention of the public to or promoting any product, service, business or commercial enterprise, trade, person, election or candidature in an election, voter registration, entertainment, function, meeting or other event, aspects relating to security and news headlines;"advertising" means the act or process of displaying an advertisement and"advertise" has a corresponding meaning;"advertising precinct" means an advertising area specifically designated and approved as an advertising precinct by the City;"advertising sign" means a screen, fence, wall or any other object, structure or device, freestanding or attached to any wall or structure, in a fixed position intended to be used or used for the purpose of displaying any advertisement and any object, structure or device which is in itself an advertisement, in or in view of a public place, Provincial or National Road and includes an advertising hoarding and billboard and in so far as any provision of these By-laws relating to an advertising sign is practically capable of being applied to an advertisement, includes an advertisement other than an advertisement displayed on an advertising sign and a poster;"applicant" means a person who makes an application in terms of the provisions of this By-law on public or private land and it includes such person’s duly authorised agent;"approved" means approved in writing by the City and "written approval" has a corresponding meaning;"arcade" means a covered pedestrian thoroughfare not vested in the City, whether or not located at ground level, passing wholly or partly through a building and to which the public normally has regular and unrestricted access;"area of control" means the degree of advertising control to be applied in a specific area, i.e. maximum-, partial- or minimum control in accordance with the visual sensitivity of an area and traffic safety conditions as contemplated in Schedule 2 to this By-law or in terms of an Outdoor Signage Management Framework as approved by the City;"authorised official" means any official of the City who has been authorised by the City to implement and enforce the provisions of these By-laws;"banner" means a piece of cloth or similar material on which an advertisement is displayed in such a manner that it is legible in windless conditions and is attached to one or more ropes, poles or a flagstaff that projects vertically, horizontally or at any angle from the building or structure to which it is attached or is attached to a building or other structure, but excludes a banner carried as part of a procession;"blimp" means a gas-inflated balloon or other object, including any such object capable of carrying passengers, which is attached or anchored to the ground upon which an advertisement is displayed;"Building Control Officer" shall mean the officer appointed by the City in terms of the provisions of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act and "BCO" has a corresponding meaning."building line" means a building line determined under an applicable town planning or land use scheme or any other law or document that has the force of law;"building schedule" means a development programme for the construction or renovation of a building or structure specifying the different phases of the development or renovation and the type of construction prepared by a person undertaking the activities concerned;"Bus Rapid Transit System" means the public transport system as approved by the City;"City" means –(a)the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality established by Provincial Notice No. 6766 of 2000, as amended, or(b)its successors in title; or(c)a structure or person exercising a delegated power or carrying out an instruction, where any power in these By-laws has been delegated or sub-delegated, or an instruction given, as contemplated in section 59 of the Municipal Systems Act, as the case may be;"clear height" means the vertical distance between the lowest edge of an advertising sign and the level of the ground, footway or roadway immediately below such sign;"construction site" means a property or portion of a property on which any building or structure is under construction after building plans have been approved in terms of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act or provisional authorisation has been granted in terms of Section 7(6) of that Act, or on which a building or structure is in the process of being demolished, which require that a hoarding or fence be erected as contemplated in Regulation F1 of the Regulations issued under the said Act;"directional sign" means an advertising sign indicating or directing the attention of the public to a place, undertaking or activity for the purpose of advertising it;"display" means the display of an advertisement and "displayed" has a corresponding meaning;"dwelling house" means one dwelling unit forming a single building;"dwelling unit" means an interconnected suite of rooms designed for occupation by a single family, irrespective of whether the dwelling unit is a single building or forms part of a building containing two or more dwelling units;"election" means a national, provincial or local government election, any by-election and a referendum held in terms of any law;"electronic advertising sign" means an advertising sign, which has an electronically/digitally/LED controlled, or both an electronically and digitally controlled, illuminated display surface, which allows for different advertisements to be shown, changed, animated or illuminated in different ways and at different intervals on one such sign;"event" means an occasion organised for the general public;"façade" means the principal front of a building;"flag" means a piece of cloth or similar material upon which an advertisement is displayed and which is attached to a single rope, pole or flagstaff projecting vertically in such a way that its contents are normally not legible in windless conditions but excludes –(a)a national flag which does not carry any advertisement in addition to the design of the flag or flagstaff;(b)a flag carried as part of a procession; and(c)a flag which is not displayed on a flagstaff."gantry" means a freestanding advertising sign that extends over, or suspends across a public street erected for the sole purpose of displaying an advertisement;"interested party" means any person who has in terms of this By-law submitted an application or submitted comments or an objection or made representations in respect of any such application;"intersection" means that area embraced within the prolongation of the lateral boundary lines of two or more public streets, open to vehicular traffic, that join one another at any angle, whether or not one such public road crosses the other;"Motorway" means a road or part of a road designated as a motorway/freeway in terms of applicable legislation;"Municipal Systems Act" means the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000\(Act, No. 32 of 2000) and any regulations made thereunder;"National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act" means the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, 1977, (Act No. 103 of 1977), and any regulations made there under;"National Environmental Management Act" means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998) and any regulations made there under;"National Road Traffic Act" means the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No. 93 of 1996), and any regulations made there under;"on-premises advertising sign" means an advertising sign located on-(a)a property other than a public place; or(b)a public street and adjacent to a property contemplated in paragraph (a), on which sign an advertisement is displayed, advertising any business, industry, service, activity or attraction taking place or provided on that property and "on-premises advertising" has a corresponding meaning;"outdoor advertising " means the display of any advertisement in or in view of any public place, Provincial or National Road within the jurisdiction of the City;"owner" means, in relation to –(a)property, the person registered as the owner or holder thereof and includes the trustee in an insolvent estate, the liquidator of a company or a close corporation which is an owner and the executor of any owner who has died or the representative recognised by law of any owner who is a minor or of unsound mind or is otherwise under disability, provided such trustee, liquidator, executor or legal representative is acting within the authority conferred on him or her by law; and(b)an advertising sign or advertisement, the person who owns such sign or advertisement and any person who has a right to, or share in, the ownership of such sign or advertisement;"poster" means any placard displaying an advertisement attracting public attention to any event , activity or product for which a poster may be approved as contemplated in section 26(1);"pre-evaluation submission" means the submission envisaged in section 3(4) of this By-law;"prescribed" means prescribed by the City;"projected sign" means an advertisement projected by a cinematograph or other apparatus onto any surface, but does not include an advertisement projected onto the audience’s side of a drive-in cinema screen during a performance;"projecting sign" means an advertising sign, whether stationary or actuated, attached to and protruding from a building which is used for commercial business, offices, industrial or entertainment purposes and which projects more than 300mm from the surface of the wall to which it is attached;"Promotion of Administrative Justice Act" means the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (Act No. 3 of 2000);"property" means any unit of land, including a public place, registered as a separate entity of land in the Deeds Office and includes any unit and land contemplated in the Sectional Titles Act, 1986 (Act No. 95 of 1986) and any public place depicted on the general plan of a township;"public place" means a public street, bridge, subway, a square, open space, garden and any other enclosed space to which the public has a right of access or which is commonly used by the public;"public street" means a road, street or thoroughfare or other right of way to which the public has a right of access or which is commonly used by the public and includes any portion of a public street between the edge of the roadway and the boundary of the land reserved for such public street, including a sidewalk, and it includes Provincial and National roads and/or motorways;"rates penalty" means the rate penalty as prescribed by the City’s Rates Policy and as envisaged in section 37(2) of this By-law;"registered person" means a person registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa as a professional engineer or professional engineering technologist, professional certified engineer or professional engineering technician under the Engineering Profession Act, 2000, (Act No. 46 of 2000);"residential building" means a building, other than a dwelling house and dwelling unit, designed for use or used for human habitation and includes a guest house, boarding house, hotel, residential club and hostel;"road island" means an area demarcated on a roadway by means of painted lines, stones, kerbs or other means, with the intention of preventing vehicles from standing or being operated in that area;"road median" means a median that separate a specific road/street to allow for traffic to travel in opposite directions or it separate two different roads to allow for traffic in opposite or the same direction but on different roads, for example a service road, and it excludes a road island;"roadway" means that portion of a public street which is improved, constructed or intended for vehicular traffic;"road reserve" means the full width of a public street including the roadway, shoulder and sidewalk and the air space above a roadway, shoulder and sidewalk and any other area within the road reserve boundary;"road traffic sign" means any road traffic sign and traffic signal as contemplated in the National Road Traffic Act;"scaffolding" means a system of interlocking poles and bars used to provide support or access, or both, to a site for construction purposes as regulated by the South African Bureau of Standards code of practice 085, entitled The Design, Erection, Use and Inspection of Access Scaffolding;"scrolling advertising sign" means an advertising sign which by mechanical means allows the rotation or changing of advertising faces to display different advertisements on one such sign;"sky sign" means any advertising sign erected or placed on or above any roof, parapet wall or the eaves of a building, but does not include an advertisement painted on a roof of a building;"storey" means the space within a building, which is situated between one floor level and the next floor level above, or if there are no clearly defined storeys, a height of 4,5m;"street furniture advertisement" means an advertisement displayed on any public facility or structure which is not primarily intended for advertising and includes a seating bench, plant box, sidewalk litter bin, pole-mounted litter bin, public transport shelter, sidewalk clock, suburban name and a street name signs and drinking fountain;"street light pole advertising sign" means an advertising sign fixed to or erected on a street light pole which pole vests in the City or a Municipal Entity;"streetscape" means the visual product of all the features within and adjacent to a public street such as street furniture, signage and landscaping;"third-party advertising sign" means an advertising sign located on a property upon which sign one or more advertisements are displayed which are not descriptive of any business, industry, service, activity or attraction situated, taking place or provided on that property and "third party advertising" has a corresponding meaning;"transit advertising sign" means a vehicle or trailer designed or adapted for advertising purposes and mainly used for such purposes;"urban design" means the actions of conceiving and managing the special and aesthetic characteristics of urban space between and around buildings including physical elements that make up the streetscape and the combined visual effect of building facades and other structures; and"voter registration" means voter registration conducted by the Independent Electoral Commission established in terms of section 4 of the Independent Electoral Commission Act, 1993 (Act No. 150 of 1993), for the purpose of any election;2. Application
Chapter 2
Applications and approvals
3. Approval of advertising signs
4. Consideration of applications
5. Withdrawal and amendment of approvals
Chapter 3
General requirements, exemptions and prohibitions
6. General requirements for advertising signs

7. Power cables and conduits to signs
8. Exempt advertising signs and advertisements
9. Prohibited signs
In addition to any other prohibition, expressed or implied, in this By-law, no person may erect, maintain or display any advertising sign –Chapter 4
Provisions relating to specific advertising signs
10. Signs suspended under verandas or canopies
Any advertising sign which is suspended under a veranda or a canopy, must comply with the following requirements:11. Signs on verandas or canopies over public streets
12. Projecting signs
13. Pylon signs for on-premises advertising
14. Advertising signs placed flat on buildings or painted on a wall of a building and bridges
15. Signs relating to the development of townships and properties
16. Requirements for sky signs
17. Screens for sky signs
18. Advertising signs depicting name, profession or occupation at residential buildings, dwelling houses and dwelling units
An advertising sign not exceeding 2m² specifying the name, profession or occupation of an occupant of the residential building, dwelling house or dwelling unit may be displayed by attaching the signs to a boundary wall or fence at or against the entrance door of such a residential building, dwelling house or dwelling unit.19. Sun-blind advertisements
An advertisement on any sun-blind exempted in terms of section 8(2), may be displayed without the approval of the City as envisaged in section 8 above, subject to compliance with the following requirements:20. Advertisements on banners, flags and similar objects
21. Advertisements on blimps
22. Advertising signs relating to selling and letting of property
23. Other temporary advertising signs
24. Advertisements on construction sites
25. Transit advertising
Chapter 5
Posters
26. Approval of posters
27. Posters relating to election or voter registration
Chapter 6
Miscellaneous
28. Maintenance and removal of advertising signs
29. Costs of removal and storage
30. Documentation
31. Public participation process
32. Consideration of applications
33. Termination of approvals granted under previous By-laws or other applicable legislation
34. Serving of notices
Any notice that is required to, or may, be served, delivered or given in terms of, or for the purposes of, this By-law, must be served in any of the following ways:35. Inspections
36. Appeals
37. Offences and penalties
38. Repeal of By-Laws
39. Tariffs
The City may determine tariff of charges dealing with any aspect, conduct or action in terms of this By-law and such tariff of charges shall be published in the Provincial Gazette for information after approval thereof by the City.40. Title
This By-law is referred to as the City of Johannesburg Outdoor Advertising By-law and will come into operation on date of promulgation of the By-law in the Provincial Gazette or on such date as stipulated in the promulgation.History of this document
30 May 2018 this version
Cited documents 8
Act 8
1. | Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 | 12551 citations |
2. | Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 | 4647 citations |
3. | Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 | 2754 citations |
4. | National Environmental Management Act, 1998 | 2400 citations |
5. | National Road Traffic Act, 1996 | 1762 citations |
6. | Sectional Titles Act, 1986 | 1346 citations |
7. | National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, 1977 | 1114 citations |
8. | Engineering Profession Act, 2000 | 363 citations |