MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Why the Panel Beaters are Sucking Ratepayers Dry

By

Slater Street
Nelson Mandela Bay traffic department towing a car illegally parked by a panel beating workshop in Slater Street.

If you take a drive along the Settlers Highway between the Albany and Mount Road off ramps (scroll down for a map) look to your left and you will see a thriving panel beating hub where vehicles are parked outside and work takes place at all hours – often the premises are still lit up way into the night.

Now, my all trusting self has often admired these businesses for their entrepreneurial bent in being so full for so many years.

BUT, it was only when recently the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality said in a statement that Panel beating workshops in North End are using street pavements and parking spaces to work on cars in violation of Road Traffic laws that it dawned on me that these businesses were using ratepayer money to expand.

After all by working on and storing the vehicles on municipal (ratepayer) land they are gaining an unfair competitive advantage against their law abiding peers. They do not pay rent for the parking, they do not have to clean up and they create a hazard for users of Slater Street and others in the immediate vicinity like South Street, Herald Street and Solomons Row.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Traffic Department on Friday, embarked on an operation to to remove the illegally parked cars.

Municipal Spokesperson Mthubanz Mninki said that the operation will be ongoing.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.