By Kouthar Sambo

Lavender Hill residents were up in arms after the City painted over a Palestinian mural in Wicht Court on Tuesday.

Speaking to VOC News, the City’s Mayco member for Safety and Security Alderman JP Smith said the City has a small graffiti unit comprising two members and a clean-up crew with paint brushes who clean graffiti every day across the city.

“Yesterday there was a complaint from a member of the public about that mural and the local law enforcement officers arrived and fined that person in terms of the 2009 Graffiti By law that says you are not allowed to paint any mural in public places, particularly on council land or asset without the consent,” explained Smith.

The graffiti unit arrived on the scene and the gentleman understood these dynamics and was more gentle with applicants, said Smith.

“He explained on-site to them how the by-law works and how the application process works. and as a consequence of that, they agreed that the mural should be removed. It was painted out and they would apply to do another mural. He also went back to them today and took them a form and guided them on how to fill the form out,” detailed Smith.

“One of the primary requirements is the consent of the land owner. You cannot paint on someone’s private property and the council cannot give you consent to paint on land that is not ours,” asserted Smith.

Meanwhile, in response to the City removing the Palestinian mural in Lavender Hill, legal expert Advocate Muhammad Abduroaf said that these murals are part of South Africa’s healing of the painful Apartheid era.

“People should be allowed to express themselves, given our painful history. The challenge I have is that a mural was painted without the City’s approval, but the City went over and above their authority,” proclaimed Abduroaf.

“They should have given the community an opportunity where they hold the mural in place for the next 30 days, and apply as per the normal circumstances and if your application is approved, they could have fined the artist with a small fine for doing it without consent,” reiterated Abduroaf.

Furthermore, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) condemned the removal of the Palestinian mural in communities by the City. The PSC also voiced its concern for the City’s “rapid response to these flag paintings” and therefore, deemed their response as rather “politically biased.”

“Never before have they responded even to the ugliest graffiti in our areas. It must be pointed out that many of the gang symbols are left untouched. Many of these graffiti paintings are there forever and a day and the City has done nothing about it. We are opposed to it,” expressed the PSC in a statement.

“We are going to consult with these communities about how they can restore those Palestinian flags on their walls,” asserted the PSC.

Photo: Supplied