Skip to content Skip to left sidebar Skip to right sidebar Skip to footer

Amendments to By-Law Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places               

George Municipality, acting under the Constitution and relevant legislation, and being aware of its duty to control the use of streets and sidewalks and to manage any work undertaken in such streets and sidewalks so as to provide a safe environment for all people within the municipal area, adopts this by-law to provide mechanisms and guidelines for such control and management.

The Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places By-law was first promulgated in 2010. Minor amendments have been made to the existing document. The by-law addresses a wide variety of actions that may or may not be permitted on a street, a sidewalk or a public place:

  • Advertisements in streets
  • Animals or objects causing an obstruction
  • Trees or growth causing an interference or obstruction
  • Refuse, motor vehicle wrecks, waste material, etc.
  • Parking of heavy vehicles and caravans
  • Parking attendants
  • Encroachments
  • Vehicle repairs in streets
  • Games and other acts in streets
  • Use of explosives
  • Conveyance of animal carcasses or other waste products through streets
  • Fences on street boundaries
  • Building materials in streets
  • Balconies and verandas
  • Drying of washing on fences on boundaries of streets
  • Damaging of noticeboards
  • Street, door-to-door collections and distribution of handbills
  • Poison in streets
  • Roller-skating and skating on skateboards
  • Persons to be decently clad
  • Amusement shows and devices
  • Animals in a street
  • Restriction of access to streets
  • Use of vehicles that may damage street surface
  • Obstruction on streets
  • Work in streets
  • Discharge of water on streets
  • Prohibited conduct
  • Street numbers
  • Closure of or restriction of access to streets
  • Construction, maintenance and naming of streets
  • Declaration of streets
  • Processions

PARTICIPATION DETAILS
The draft Streets, Sidewalks and Public Places By-Law notice will be published in the George Herald, on the Municipal Website and municipal social media sites. The document is available on our website, follow this link https://www.george.gov.za/george-doc-categories/documents/bylaws-and-regulations/civil-engineering-services/ Hard copies will be provided at all public libraries in George for review. Feedback is required within 30 days.

We encourage the residents of George to keep an eye out for the notices and to provide input. Once the input has been received from the public and addressed, the final by-law then goes back to Council for approval. Comments and inputs can be emailed to Lionel Daniels, rldaniels@george.gov.za phoned in to 044 801 9111 or submitted in person at the Civil Engineering Services Building, Corner of Market and York Street, George ,6530

By-laws differ between municipalities.
The Constitution of South Africa gives municipalities the power to pass their own legislation, in the form of by-laws, for subject areas. These by-laws hold the same power and force as other national and provincial legislation but are laws managed by the individual municipality in order to regulate the affairs and the services it provides within its area of jurisdiction.  The details of by-laws can differ from one municipality to another, and the public is always advised to check their local municipal by-laws which can be found on the relevant municipal website.

Promulgated in Western Cape Provincial Gazette
A municipal by-law may be enforced only after it has been published in the official gazette of the Western Cape Province on request of the local municipality. The promulgated by-law is then uploaded to the municipal website for easy access by the public. Transgression of a by -law is treated the same as a normal law, if you break a by-law, you can be fined or prosecuted. Most transgressions are handled in the George Municipal Court.