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Johannesburg - The City of Johannesburg is ordering a mall to take down a banner that has slammed mobile network Cell C’s services.
The city says that neither businessman George Prokas, who paid R61,000 for the banner, nor the WorldWear Mall along Beyers Naude Drive, filed an application to put up the banner.
George Prokas is linked to the WorldWear Mall. When Fin24 phoned the WorldWear Mall phone number, Prokas' assistant Beverley Cameron answered the call. Cameron told Fin24 that Prokas is unavailable to comment on the City of Joburg's move to take down his banner.
Nthatisi Modingoane, deputy director responsible for media relations at the City of Joburg, told Fin24 that putting up banners without submitting applications for them contravenes the city's by-laws. The City of Joburg plans giving a notice to the mall tomorrow instructing it to take down the banner.
Cell C has confirmed to Fin24 that “once the banner was erected, and prior to bringing the court application, Cell C notified the City of Johannesburg and requested that it intervene on the basis that the banner breaches certain outdoor advertising by-laws of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality".
Modingoane added that the city does have a team that inspects advertising banners, but he said it also relies on members of the public to identify possible contraventions.
Subsequently, the city discovered that the mall had not submitted an application to have the Cell C slam banner put up.
This development has occurred after Judge Sharise Weiner dismissed an urgent application in the South Gauteng High Court by Cell C last week to remove the banner.
The banner described the mobile network as “the most useless service provider in SA as experienced via Cell C Sandton City”.
"We're serving them tomorrow and we're giving them seven days,” City of Joburg's Modingoane told Fin24 regarding the notice.
The mall will have seven days to take down the banner or face possible legal action, Modingoane said.
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