The Makhado local municipality has warned people to refrain from erecting sign boards with ‘racial’ utterances along the roads within its jurisdiction. This after a board was erected along the R522 road from Makhado (Louis Trichardt) to Vivo.

The municipal manager, Mr Isaac Mutshinyali, said the municipality was concerned about such boards, which apparently encourage racial discrimination and stereotyping. Although the person who erected the board could not immediately be identified, the sign board was removed and replaced with a municipal board.

The board was rebuking members of the public, particularly motorists, to refrain from dumping filthy things along the road. The board reads: “Only an idiot and a baboon throws (sic) rubbish out of a vehicle".

According to the municipal manager, they do not have a problem with members of the community who want to help and fight the scourge of motorists' dumping rubbish alongside the road. “We condemn people who dump rubbish everywhere. We don’t want that in our municipality,” said Mr Mutshinyali.

The sign board is expected to be replaced with a municipal board which clearly states that the area is not a dumping site. “Our plan is to erect a board which clearly states the message but does not insult people,” he added.

Even though the road is a provincial one, the municipality insists that the Road Act allows them to guard all the roads within its jurisdiction.