Nice election poster, but what are you actually going to do for SA? - EWN

Election posters have begun springing up like mushrooms across the country ahead of the local government elections.

Smiling politicians beam at us from lamp posts in party colours and a handful of carefully chosen words promising a better city.

But do election posters actually secure votes?

What impact can they really have in the few seconds voters have to look at them as they drive past?

Mohammed Jogie is the Design and Strategy Director at the Institute of Media, Strategy & Design.

He told CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit that political posters have a 3 to 7-second window to get their message across.

"People are wrestling with traffic as well as the GPS and probably a crying kid in the backseat. So, in essence, you need to communicate in three to seven seconds. So that's your kind of window."