Political parties have 14 days to remove their elections posters from the City of Johannesburg's street poles or they will have to pay a R1 000 penalty for each poster the City removes.

Acting city manager Floyd Brink said Joburg cannot become unsightly due to posters that no longer have relevance.

Brink said, "We trust that all the parties will do what is required of them in terms of the by-laws. It is a short time, hence the further grace period, but the City cannot become unsightly due to posters that no longer have relevance, and it almost becomes a type of littering if left unchecked."

According to Brink, the removal of posters within the time stipulated was in terms of Section 28 of the City's Outdoor Advertising By-laws (2009), which stipulates posters must be removed by the person displaying it within 14 days after conclusion of an election or voter registration period.

Brink said within 14 days of the conclusion of the election or voter registration period the council will notify the relevant party to remove the posters within the period specified.

If that does not happen, the council may remove the posters itself at a prescribed fee per poster payable by the relevant party.

"Every poster that is removed by the City after the grace period will be tallied up for each party and a fine of R1 000 per poster issued accordingly," Brink added.

Brink said political parties were informed of Section 28, and a letter was also sent to the Electoral Commission of South Africa months before election campaigns started.