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WHEN A CAMPAIGN POSTER BECOMES A PUBLIC-SAFETY QUESTION
In Heidedal, what began as an alleged act of political vandalism has exposed a far more uncomfortable question: who is responsible when political campaigning potentially puts the public at risk?
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In Heidedal, what began as an alleged act of political vandalism has exposed a far more uncomfortable question: who is responsible when political campaigning potentially puts the public at risk?
A campaign poster can be replaced. A damaged pole cannot simply be ignored. And neither can the people who may be standing beneath it.
That is the uncomfortable reality sitting behind an incident in Heidedal involving a severely damaged and leaning pole, electrical infrastructure and allegations surrounding a political campaign poster.
What should have been another routine moment in the run-up to the 2026 Local Government Elections has instead raised questions that go well beyond party politics: what happened, who was responsible, whether the incident was reported, and whether enough was done to protect the public after potentially dangerous infrastructure was compromised?
Images seen by NovaSpeak show a pole leaning significantly towards a roadway, with electrical infrastructure appearing to hang across or near the area. The circumstances surrounding the damage remain disputed and are the subject of allegations, including claims by witnesses that DA Ward 16 candidate Attie Terblache was involved with another person.
Those allegations are not established fact. NovaSpeak has not independently determined who caused the damage, whether it was deliberate or accidental, or precisely what happened immediately before and after the incident. Terblache should therefore be afforded a full opportunity to respond.
But there is a point at which political arguments must give way to something more fundamental.
Safety.
Because once a pole carrying electrical infrastructure is damaged, the issue is no longer simply about a poster, a party or a candidate. It becomes a question of whether motorists, pedestrians, campaign volunteers and residents were exposed to unnecessary danger.
And that is the question political parties should be answering.
Not only: Who damaged the pole?
But: Was the danger reported? Who secured the area? Who assessed the infrastructure? And what procedures were supposed to be followed before anyone was working around it in the first place?
Those questions matter because electrical infrastructure does not give the public a second chance.
A damaged pole can fall onto a vehicle. A cable can come down across a road. A pedestrian can approach a fallen wire without knowing whether it is live. A child can see nothing more than something lying on the ground and move towards it. Ordinary members of the public cannot simply look at damaged electrical equipment and determine whether it is safe.
That is why damaged or fallen electrical infrastructure should always be treated as dangerous until qualified personnel have assessed and secured it.
Yet the Heidedal incident raises an even earlier question — one that political parties across the country should be asking before their volunteers ever climb a ladder.
What safety assessment happens before a campaign poster goes up?
Because putting up a poster may look harmless.
It is not automatically harmless.
The moment a person climbs several metres above the ground beside a public road, handles a large sheet of material that can catch the wind and works near electrical infrastructure, the task carries a completely different risk profile.
There is working at height.
There is ladder stability.
There is traffic.
There are pedestrians.
There are falling objects.
There is weather.
And, potentially, there is electricity.
The poster may be political.
The risk is not.
A responsible campaign team should therefore be asking basic questions before the ladder is opened. Is the pole structurally sound? Is the ground stable? Is the ladder appropriate and in good condition? Can it be properly secured? Are vehicles passing close to the work area? Are pedestrians protected? Is electrical infrastructure within the work zone? What happens if the wind increases? And who takes responsibility if the situation suddenly becomes unsafe?
Because “it will only take five minutes” is not a safety plan.
Five minutes is enough for a ladder to slip.
Five minutes is enough for someone to fall.
Five minutes is enough for a vehicle to pass too close.
Five minutes is enough for a gust of wind to turn a campaign poster into a sail.
And five minutes is enough for an ordinary political activity to become a medical emergency.
That is why occupational health and safety principles should not suddenly disappear because the person doing the work is a political volunteer.
The volunteer matters.
The motorist matters.
The pedestrian matters.
The child walking past matters.
The resident living nearby matters.
Everyone around the work area matters.
A ladder should not simply be leaned against a pole because somebody has done it that way before. Its condition matters. Its position matters. The surface beneath it matters. The stability of the structure matters. The surrounding traffic matters. The weather matters.
And when electricity is involved, caution becomes even more important.
A large campaign poster several metres above the ground is not just a piece of paper when the wind gets hold of it. It can become a force capable of pulling against the person holding it, the ladder and the structure.
That is why responsible campaigning cannot be measured only by how many posters a party manages to put up.
It should also be measured by how safely those posters are installed.
Because no candidate should be able to say that winning an election justified exposing a volunteer or member of the public to unnecessary danger.
There is nothing courageous about continuing a dangerous task because an election deadline is approaching.
There is nothing politically impressive about a volunteer risking serious injury for campaign material.
And there is certainly nothing worth celebrating if a photograph of a smiling candidate beside a freshly installed poster is followed by a photograph of emergency workers dealing with an injured volunteer or member of the public.
This is also why the Heidedal issue cannot simply become a fight between the DA, PA and VF+.
The political colours are almost irrelevant once public safety is involved.
If one party's campaign team creates a risk, it must be addressed.
If another party's campaign team does the same, it must be addressed.
If an accident happens, it must be dealt with honestly.
If infrastructure is damaged deliberately, it must be investigated.
If someone witnesses a dangerous situation, the priority should be reporting it and getting the area made safe.
The standard cannot change depending on which political flag is attached to the poster.
There are allegations that the damaged pole was not reported by Terblache. NovaSpeak has not independently verified that claim, and it should not be presented as fact without evidence.
But if public infrastructure is damaged and somebody becomes aware that it may present a danger, reporting that danger becomes more than a matter of political courtesy.
It becomes a matter of public responsibility.
Because the person driving past does not know who damaged the pole.
The pedestrian does not know which party's poster was involved.
The child walking along the road does not know whether the cable is live.
And the electricity does not care who someone intends to vote for.
That is perhaps the most important point of all.
A DA supporter could be driving down that road.
A PA supporter could be walking along it.
A VF+ supporter could have a child playing nearby.
An ANC voter could be affected by an electricity interruption.
Infrastructure does not vote. People do.
And that is precisely why political rivalry must never become more important than public safety.
A poster is temporary.
An election campaign is temporary.
Political power is temporary.
A human life is not.
The Heidedal incident should therefore become an opportunity for political organisations campaigning ahead of the 2026 Local Government Elections to look at their own practices before somebody gets seriously hurt.
Before the next poster goes up, who is responsible for the installation?
Are volunteers properly equipped for the task?
Is the ladder safe?
Is the structure safe?
Is the ground stable?
Are electrical lines or equipment nearby?
Are motorists and pedestrians adequately protected?
Is the weather suitable?
And what is the emergency plan if something goes wrong?
These should not be difficult questions.
They should be standard questions.
Because safety cannot be an afterthought.
It cannot begin after a person falls.
It cannot begin after a pole collapses.
It cannot begin after a cable comes down.
And it certainly cannot begin after someone is injured.
It has to begin before the ladder goes up.
That is why NovaSpeak believes the Heidedal incident deserves more than political finger-pointing. It deserves answers.
If the allegations against Terblache are false, he should be given the opportunity to explain what happened.
If the damage was accidental, the circumstances should be established.
If the damage was deliberate, the appropriate authorities should investigate.
If the infrastructure was not reported, there should be an explanation.
If the pole remained in a dangerous condition, the relevant authority should explain what was done to protect the public.
And regardless of who ultimately carries responsibility, the immediate priority should remain the same:
Make the area safe.
Because while political parties are competing for the right to represent Heidedal, residents are asking for something much more basic.
Safe roads.
Safe infrastructure.
Safe communities.
And political representatives who understand that the people they are asking to vote for them are not campaign numbers, political statistics or election-day targets.
They are human beings.
So before the next poster goes up, before the next ladder is opened and before another campaign volunteer climbs towards another pole, perhaps the most important question is also the simplest:
Is this worth the risk?
It should never be.
No poster is worth a life.
NovaSpeak | The Pink Print
We Look. We Ask. We Tell The Stories That Matter.