Karoo councillor fined once more — for repainting pedestrian crossing and parking spaces at church

‘Look, actually, my paint is finished so I was just relaxing at home,” Councillor Eldridge Ruiters from Aberdeen said on Tuesday afternoon after he was fined again for repainting parking spots and a pedestrian crossing at the Aberdeen NG Church.

“Next thing I know the police arrive here, at my house, with the municipal law enforcement to give me another summons. The policeman said next time they are also going to open a docket,” Ruiters said.

“That is the last project we did. The paint is finished now,” he said.

He still has no intention to pay the fine – “I will go to court again.” 

He has been fined for painting without authorisation or without obtaining permission.

On 4 November, Ruiters was summoned to appear in court with the option of paying a fine for repainting road markings in Aberdeen, including the parking spots at the court. The case, however, was thrown out by the prosecutor as nobody could find the by-law that the municipality alleged he had contravened – even after the prosecutor phoned the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality.

Read more: Municipal councillor summonsed to appear in court for repainting faded road markings in Karoo town

But now he has been furnished with a typed page containing by-law 16. It does not appear to be from the government gazette. This by-law states: “No person other than an authorised official of the municipality in the performance of his or her duties may apply, mark, paint, or draw lines, marks, words, signs or advertisements on the surface of a street or public place.”

Ruiters said he had served as a Democratic Alliance member of the council since 2013 and could not recall seeing this by-law or adopting it in council.

He said he always measured and made sure that the lines he painted were in accordance with road traffic regulations. 

The wording in the by-law appears to be the same as that of a by-law passed in Kouga Municipality on 27 December 2006. Both are marked 16(6). The gazetted version of the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality by-law, however, could not be found on either the municipal website, in the government gazette or on request to two municipal officials.

Previously, Eastern Cape spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Luxolo Tyali said the repainting was not a trivial matter.

“That is a very serious offence. If people change road markings, others might follow those and get into serious accidents. Road signs and markings have to comply with the law. Making your own markings or changing markings is changing legal directives to suit you,” said Tyali.

“If we leave him, others may follow suit, and that may lead to anarchy,” he said.

Daily Maverick is still awaiting comment from the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality. DM