A second attempt by the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality to prosecute councillor Eldridge Ruiters for repainting the faded parking and road markings in Aberdeen has fallen flat.
Ruiters arrived at court promptly on Tuesday morning only to be told that he had been summoned to appear in court on a day that the court was not sitting in Aberdeen. A municipal law enforcement officer who arrived at court for the case was also sent away.
“We used to have court on a Tuesday,” Ruiters said. “But now we have court on a Thursday.”
It is unclear what will become of the case now but Ruiters came prepared to defend himself. Colleen Ogilvie, the chairperson of the Aberdeen Ratepayers Association, signed an affidavit setting out how they have been trying for years to get the roads in town repainted.
She said requests for new road markings had fallen on deaf ears at the municipality for years. The list of neglected projects in town is long. The residents association recently also had to rebuild the wall around the cemetery, Ogilvie said.
‘No money’
“The excuse is always that there is no money, but we pay the same rates as the people in Graaff-Reinet,” she said.
“There was a team here,” Ruiters said, “but they only painted a few lines and then they left again.”
Councillor Eldridge Ruiters shows off his handiwork. (Photo: Estelle Ellis)
Two other shop owners also indicated that they would support Ruiters.
“Even the school principal said the other day he was grateful for the new road markings because it is safer for the children who walk to school,” Ruiters said.
After Ruiters and a team from the community took it upon themselves to repaint the road markings, he was first issued a R350 fine without mention of a bylaw violation. When he went to court the prosecutor threw the case out because of this.
See Zapiro’s take on the case against Ruiters here
The municipality then issued a summons for him to pay a fine or appear in court using a by-law adopted by the now defunct Camdeboo Municipality. The Camdeboo Municipality closed down in 2016 when the Municipal Demarcation Board merged several Karoo municipalities to form the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality based in Graaff-Reinet. The Camdeboo Municipality originally included the town of Aberdeen. This by-law prescribes a fine of R350, which is a similar fine to transgressions of by-laws including planting or removing trees without permission, climbing into or breaking trees, marking or painting a tree, flying a kite or shooting a catapult, the improper conveying of animal carcass or material and outspanning in a street.
Ruiters also painted the busy parking lot in front of the Post Office. (Photo: Estelle Ellis)
The streets of Aberdeen are not in good condition. (Photo: Estelle Ellis)
Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality spokesperson Edwardine Abader said previously that the by-law was adopted by the Camdeboo Municipality, but in terms of the law, they were allowed to use the by-laws of municipalities that had been merged to form the current one. She said nobody else had been prosecuted for contravening this by-law.
Read more: Municipal councillor summonsed to appear in court for repainting faded road markings in Karoo town
She added that they required people wishing to redo the road markings to ask for permission. Abader has not yet commented on the latest development, or if they will try a third time to fine Ruiters or have him prosecuted.
Ruiters said his paint was finished at the moment, but if he received new paint he would ask for permission first before tackling the outstanding road markings in the town. DM