Mr Speaker, hon colleagues, and members of the House, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is premised on a transformative spatial vision with clear proposals to achieve spatial equity, integration, sustainability, good land administration and efficiency.
The pivotal principle underlying this Bill is spatial justice, which is expressed in the following six elements. Firstly, past spatial and other development imbalances must be redressed through improved access to and use of land. Secondly, spatial development frameworks and policies in all spheres of government must address the inclusion of persons and areas that were previously excluded, with emphasis on informal settlements, former homeland areas and areas characterised by widespread poverty and deprivation. Thirdly, spatial planning mechanisms, including land use schemes, must incorporate provisions that enable redress in access to land by previously disadvantaged communities and persons. Fourthly, land use management systems must include all areas of a municipality and specifically include provisions that are flexible and appropriate for the management of disadvantaged areas, informal settlements and former homeland areas. Fifthly, land development procedures must include provisions that accommodate access to secure tenure and incremental upgrading of informal areas. Lastly, a land use regulator considering an application before it may not be impeded or restricted in the exercise of its discretion on the grounds that the value of land or property could be affected by the outcome of the application.
Mr Speaker, the Surplus People Project of 1983, SPP 1983, reported about ...
... le nto kuthiwa namhlanje yi-betterment planning. Le nto iyi-betterment planning bekusithiwa iza kulungisa intlalo yabantu kuba ibigxile kumhlaba wezolimo. Ingxaki ibikukususwa kwabantu ababengaphezulu kwezigidi ezithathu esinesiqingatha. Loo nto yabangela ukuhlukumezeka kwabantu kuba basuswa kwiindawo ababehlala kuzo.
Kodwa loo nto ibalulekile kuba sifuna ukuqinisekisa ukuba lo Mthetho oYilwayo apha ngoku ibe nguMthetho oza kubuyisela isidima ebantwini. Sifuna ukuba lo Mthetho osaYilwayo ibe nguMthetho oza kuthi ubethe kanye entloko lo Mthetho wobandlululo wasusa abantu ezindaweni zabo, beqhathwa ngelithi kuza kulinywa, bengazange babuyekezwa ngendlela efanelekileyo. Kodwa ke siyayiqonda nento yokuba Somlomo ohloniphekileyo, ukuba lo Mthetho unobunzima kuba ugxile kuzo zonke izigaba zikarhulumente: urhulumente wesizwe, wamaphondo norhulumente wooMasipala. Siyayazi ukuba iza kuba ngumceli-mngeni omkhulu kwezinye izigaba zikarhulumente kuba ooMasipala ayingabo bonke abanezakhono zokuba bakwazi ukwenza umsebenzi ololu hlobo.
Njengoko kwingxelo, ndiqinisekile ukuba uSihlalo weKomiti yeMicimbi yeSebe lezoPhuhliso lwamaPhandle noHlengahlengiso lwemiHlaba uza kuthetha ngalento, yokuba belisebe banaso isicwangciso sokuncedisana nooMasipala kunye namaphondo ukwandisa izakhono zabo. Esi cwangciso siya kuthi sibancedise ukwenza uMthetho okanye imiThetho yamaphondo ezakube isekelwe kulo Mthetho osaYilwayo wesizwe. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[... what today is called betterment planning, which was touted to better people's lives because of its focus on agricultural land. The problem was the removal of more than three and a half million people from their land. These forced removals caused untold human suffering.
However, it is important to make sure that the Bill we are deliberating now will restore the dignity of the people. We want to make sure that it addresses the core of the apartheid legislation that led to forced removal of people from their land under the guise of clearing land for agricultural purposes, without them being properly compensated.
However, hon Speaker, we are aware of the challenges related to this Bill, considering that it affects all three spheres of government: national, provincial and local government. We know that implementing this Bill is going to be a huge challenge for the local sphere of government because not all municipalities have the skill and the expertise required to do so.
I am sure that in his report the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform will touch on this important point, that the department does have a plan in place to empower local and provincial governments with more skills. This plan will help these two spheres of government to come up with legislation in line with this Bill.]
Mr Speaker, efforts to develop this Bill commenced about 12 years ago, and we note that considerable time has been spent on engagements and consultations. The weighty issues dealt with in this Bill, especially the sustained interest by different role-players, confirm the enormity and the importance of the issues raised in this Bill.
All sectors of our society are impacted by proposals in this Bill. We are humbled by the huge number of comments we received in written form and during the series of workshops we had on the Bill. After the introduction of the Bill in this House, the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform spent considerable energy going through the detail of the Bill. The committee conducted robust sessions of public hearings and sought specialists' legal opinion on this Bill. The result is a Bill that has been enriched by all. We are grateful to the committee for the leadership and dedication it demonstrated during this long and arduous process. Thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker and hon members, the background to the understanding of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill can be found in the National Development Plan adopted by all South Africans through this House and various fora of our country as a roadmap for long- term planning and as development tool for our nation. The plan specifically commits all South Africans to work towards a minimum standard of life, as envisaged in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
The total land surface of South Africa is expected to be developed for all citizens, especially the poor, the youth, the marginal and vulnerable groups. To achieve this, government must take the lead to divert available resources and investments in partnership with all development agents, both nationally and internationally, towards the total destruction of all poverty, unemployment and inequality - the legacy of colonialism and apartheid in our country. Spatial planning and land use management for all forms of development must therefore be of a national effort by all municipalities, provincial governments, national departments and state-owned enterprises to attain developmental, equitable and efficient spatial planning across all spheres of government.
This Bill seeks to address a fragmented, unequal and incoherent spatial planning and land use management system that exists in South Africa. Attempts to legislate for a coherent and integrated planning system, through the Development Facilitation Act, Act No 67 of 1995, did not succeed because the continued existence of the old-order laws and parallel systems of land development permitted under different pieces of legislation disallowed this.
The crucial moment for the planning system in South Africa came on 18 June 2010, when the Constitutional Court pronounced on a matter of dispute between the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and the Gauteng Development Tribunal, which was established in terms of the Development Facilitation Act. The City of Johannesburg was empowered by the Transvaal Town Planning and Township Ordinance No 15 of 1986 to deal with planning issues, whereas the Gauteng Development Tribunal was empowered by the Development Facilitation Act, Act No 67 of 1995, to do the same.
The matter was brought before the Constitutional Court to make a determination on who has the powers and mandate to determine the rezoning of land and establishment of townships. On 18 June 2010 the Constitutional Court pronounced on the invalidity of Chapters V and VI of the Development Facilitation Act, citing that the Constitution provides for a degree of autonomy for the local sphere of government, in other words that municipalities should exercise their Constitutional powers without the interference of other spheres of government.
The Supreme Court of Appeal's decision that planning in the context of municipal affairs has a particular meaning, which includes zoning of land and establishment of townships, was upheld. The powers to consider and approve applications for rezoning of land and the establishment of townships are elements of municipal planning - a function assigned to municipalities by section 156(1) of the Constitution, read with part B of Schedule 4.
The Constitutional Court ordered that the invalidity would be suspended for 24 months to allow the department to address the defects of the Development Facilitation Act, envisaging that the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill would have been enacted by 17 June 2012. The Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform is confident that this Bill, that seeks to remedy the flaw, will stand the constitutional test, as the committee collectively went out of its way to consult teams of legal experts to advise on all aspects of the Bill's constitutionality.
We thank senior counsels I Jamie and J Gauntlett for the valuable advice that helped the portfolio committee to overcome potential weaknesses in the Bill. We also thank all committee members who dedicated valuable time in pursuit of quality legislation, which we believe we have achieved. We further call on all stakeholders, including all the portfolio committees that are directly affected by this Bill and have contributed on its various aspects, to support the process of law-making beyond this House.
Without necessarily sequencing in any order, the development facilitation role of government spheres, as will be expected due to their weakness at all levels, is unevenly spread. It is not going to be possible for this law to be implemented throughout the country in the same way, on the same date and within the same period.
However, we believe that the national government and the provincial spheres are expected to empower those lower spheres in the same way that the national government would capacitate these provincial governments to help local municipalities to produce spatial development frameworks and bylaws in line with the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill's requirements to ensure that the national government, a provincial government and a municipality participate in the spatial planning and land use management processes that impact on each other, to ensure that the plans and programmes are co-ordinated, consistent and in harmony with each other. The National Spatial Development Framework must give effect to the development principles, norms and standards set out in Chapter 2 of the Bill. It must give effect to relevant national policies, priorities, plans and legislation; co-ordinate and integrate provincial and municipal spatial development frameworks; enhance spatial co-ordination of land development and land use management activities at national level; indicate desired patterns of land use in the Republic; and take cognisance of any environmental management instrument adopted by the relevant environmental management authority.
After the Bill has been passed in the NCOP, the Minister must insist that the regulations come back to this House for us to be able to make sure that they are consistent with the law and to make sure that the implementation of this Bill does not create parallel structures. We have to make sure that no other law of the Republic, even though it may purport to be working to assist this one, will nullify this particular Bill.
The Minister must make sure that land use schemes of municipalities, working with provincial government departments, promote uniformity throughout the system, both in rural and urban areas. There has to be one South Africa for everybody, rather than a South Africa of the people in the Bantustans, townships and suburbs. We must make sure that transformation is taking place in planning in our cities and towns. What is happening out there, once we have debated these issues here, is that municipalities are still enforcing the patterns of settlement of apartheid through planning, because it is regarded as a technical tool in the hands of town planners rather than a transformatory one in the hands of citizens that must leave.
The committee has unanimously approved and agreed with this Bill. Therefore, I commend this Bill to the House. I thank you. [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, notwithstanding the motivation by the Minister and the portfolio committee chairperson that we should pass this legislation, I would like to highlight some concerns that we have with the proposed legislation.
Despite the fact that this legislation has been 12 years in the making, as the Minister said, it does not mean that it should be railroaded through the legislative process. I stopped this Bill being snuck past the goalie last year when it was already in the NCOP, about to be processed without the appropriate consideration of the portfolio committee and the consideration of public submissions. The referral of the Bill to the relevant portfolio committee certainly enriched the final product. I have no doubt that it is a better piece of proposed legislation than it was before this intervention.
The Bill is intended to address apartheid spatial segregation and designed exclusion of certain communities, where certain communities, especially black communities, were confined to living on the periphery of cities. No one in their right mind could oppose the Bill's intention and it is certainly in line with the DA's policy of R2-D2, which embraces the issues around restitution, reconciliation, diversity and delivery.
Examples, though, of post-1994 RDP housing developments and spatial planning that the portfolio chair has just alluded to illustrate this perfectly. Despite name changes, from the Department of Housing to that of Human Settlements, and the reference to built environments becoming the new catch phrase, this government continues to build concentration camp-style housing developments that do nothing to improve the living standards and dignity of housing beneficiaries.
One of the chief objectives of this legislation is to reduce and streamline bureaucracy. I want to say that the worst thing for bureaucracy constipation is the delegation of authority to spheres of government and people who do not have the prerequisite skills. A doomed if you do, doomed if you don't mentality ends up blocking development. It also opens doors for corruption and opportunism.
I want to share an example with you - the Limpopo style of development that would use this kind of legislation to their advantage. In Polokwane there was a land swap, where a certain Mr David Mabilu, who owned a farm called Doringkraal, swapped 626 hectares valued at R1,1 million with the Polokwane Local Municipality for two erven valued at R9,7 million. [Interjections.] That is the kind of spatial redress we do not want. That is the kind of spatial redress that black economic empowerment, BEE, cadres feast on. We need to make sure when we pass legislation that we do not open an opportunity for those people who feed at the trough of BEE deals to make hay while the sun shines under certain legislation.
Civic organisations, the organisations that represent the people we represent in this Parliament - our voters - are concerned that their rights to object and appeal are being limited to financial interest provisions only. What about aesthetic and environmental considerations, let alone considerations of the integrated development plans, IDPs, of municipalities and the spatial development framework provisions? Appealing to an independent authority is the ultimate check and balance to somebody who uses the right to appeal. However, this is no longer applicable. Appeals will be made to the decision-making authority, where the municipality becomes the player and the referee.
The public hearing process, that was at first neither entertained by this Parliament nor honoured, resulted in mountains of submissions from metros, smaller municipalities, professional organisations such as the geometric and surveying fraternity, including civic and civil society interest groups, which gave rise to significant amendments, too.
There is possible conflict between the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill and the Municipal Systems Act. This Bill does not clarify which piece of legislation trumps which. The passing of this Bill will require the repeal of existing legislation to prevent duplicate and conflicting and parallel legislation. Provinces will have to repeal relevant provincial laws or harmonise them if this is framework legislation. There is, however, still much debate whether this is actually framework legislation or whether this is defining legislation for all provinces.
The Bill is designed and drafted in a fashion that defines that all of its provisions must comply with all other legislation. The arrogance of the sponsors leaves me with little or no confidence that this is in fact not so. I am not entirely clear how this Bill secures provincial and national interests while simultaneously respecting the role of local authorities. The hon chairperson referred to the court case of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal and Others. I also want to make mention of the judgment in Maccsand (Pty) Ltd v City of Cape Town and Others. Legal case law studies show that this is a critically important consideration which this Bill does not entirely take into account. The proposed Bill's application to peri-urban, and specifically communal land under traditional leadership, is not entirely clear, and the fact that the House of Traditional Leaders was not specifically targeted for public submission has resulted in a dubious cloud of misconception. The exclusion of communal land under traditional leadership is also a source of grave concern. Compatibility of this legislation with the unfathomable KwaZulu- Natal Ingonyama Trust Act is also most unclear and will in all probability be challenged in court.
The debate around agricultural land being granted unique categorisation status for conservation of agricultural resources and food security reasons has led to mining seeking similar exclusionary status. This is potentially a loophole that could create a proverbial legislative minefield.
Asiyiphiki imeko yesidima sabantu abangenayo imihlaba kunye neendawo zokuhlala. [We are not disputing the indignity of the people through their not having land and a roof over their heads.]
However, one does not need this legislation to address that. All one needs to do is to give people titles to the land that they live on in the homelands and give people titles to the RDP houses that have been built for them.
The portfolio committees initiative to seek legal opinion was a commendable one. This gave rise to the sponsor department seeking its own legal opinion. There was an interesting dynamic. The portfolio committee got the opinion of Adv Ishmail Jamie, SC, who regularly appears for the state and the department sought the opinion of Adv Gauntlett, SC, and Adv Keightley. An interesting observation - this is the same Gauntlett that is not good enough to serve on the Bench or in the Constitutional Court. The opinions dealt with constitutionality and both led to significant amendments and improvements. We thank the portfolio committee chair for allowing that process to go ahead.
This is, however, difficult legislation. If one does not have enough registered town planners, one cannot implement this legislation. In the Western Cape we are about to pass legislation next week, where the province will deal with those municipalities that do not have capacity. The big metros have the capacity to accept the provisions of the Bill. In fact, the City of Cape Town has more planners than the department and all the other municipalities in this province put together. The same applies to other big metros.
One of the biggest constraints is that the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, for all intents and purposes, does not exist. This is where the real issue is. There are no Minmec meetings. Minister Baloyi has cancelled the last three during which they were to discuss sustainability issues of municipalities and the capacity of municipalities. This Bill will be stillborn because of the fact that the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs does not exist, for all intents and purposes. Under those circumstances, the DA will not be able to pass and adopt this legislation. Thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, the necessity for an integrated approach to spatial planning and land use management is key to sustainable development. The need to give spatial consideration to the protection of prime and unique agricultural land is of paramount importance to food security in our country. This matter is of such significance that the Minister must give it the highest priority.
South Africa has a large land mass. However, prime and unique agricultural land makes up a very small portion of that. Such land should immediately be identified and entered into a register. By ring-fencing prime and unique agricultural land, planners and developers will understand where development is forbidden. By the same token, land that has not been used for any agricultural purposes whatsoever, since 1994, should also be identified and entered into a separate register in order to fast-track suitable development on such land. Millions of hectares are lying unused while millions of people in our country are jobless and hungry.
The function of spatial planning and land use management should not be to frustrate development, but rather to facilitate and accelerate development. If developers knew which land was earmarked for immediate development of a determined type, investment would occur and jobs would be created.
Cope strongly urges the Minister to use this Bill as basis for stimulating appropriate economic activity, not stifling it as bureaucrats are doing with legislation, generally. Land use as schemes must be published annually and the attention of investors to approved land schemes must be drawn. Annually, the national provincial and local government must meet to assess whether this Bill, when it is signed into law, accelerates appropriate development. Section 12(1)(k) must be highlighted so that the national and provincial spheres of government and each municipality can annually announce the spatial development framework that they have developed to provide direction for strategic development and infrastructure investment, and can indicate priority areas for investment in land development.
I give the Minister notice that we, as Cope, will be referring to section 12(1)(k) in written and oral questions to ascertain whether the Minister has kept his focus on this issue. We will keep focusing on this issue because we want optimal and sustainable use of our land for the benefit of the millions who are jobless today. It is an indictment on government that 12 million people go hungry every day, where land lies idle. We will visit section 12(1)(k) again and again to ensure that the Minister is on top of his job. South Africa needs development, but government, especially local government, as everyone knows, is impeding investment because of corruption, long delays in processing applications and ineptitude. This has to be dealt with decisively for a better life for all.
In fact, a clause should have been inserted providing for an ombudsperson to bring crooked and lazy officials into line. It is one thing to have a good Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act; it is quite another to implement the Act. That is what we will be watching.
As I conclude, people around Hammanskraal and Sekhukhune were shocked today because of dirty water, lack of land, etc, and all this we are discussing is part and parcel of that. Are we going to continue killing ... [Time expired.] [Applause.]
DEPUTY SPEAKER: Enkosi, Mhlekazi. Ixesha lakho liphelile. [Thank you, sir. Your time has expired.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, while the IFP is supporting this Bill, it is against the way the Bill has been structured. We are extremely concerned that, in terms of this Bill, traditional leaders will be totally excluded and deprived of their authority to allocate and distribute land to the members of their communities. By such exclusion, the Bill seeks to override and ignore one of the core principles of the Ingonyama Trust by not providing for consultation with traditional leadership on issues pertaining to land that falls under their administration.
The Bill's objective looks noble at first glance, yet it hides the fact that the Bill abrogates the powers of traditional leaders regarding allocation and use of land, except for those leaders who may be elected to serve in municipal structures.
Of serious concern is the fact that the Bill has not been sent to the House of Traditional Leaders, even though it deals with traditional land. The IFP strongly urges that traditional leaders not only be included in this Bill, but also that nothing be done without their prior approval, because they are acutely aware of the needs of their communities in terms of land issues. As the Bill stands, municipalities will have full control over the process of land redistribution. This is totally unacceptable.
In conclusion, we, as the IFP, urge the full inclusion and consultation of the House of Traditional Leaders when issues arise in terms of this law that pertains to land under their authority. Thank you.
Madam Deputy Speaker and hon members, we have come a long way since the days when some key stakeholders felt that some parts of this Bill were constitutionally invalid. Intensive dialogue and robust debate have enabled us to come up with a Bill that seeks to ensure that the system of special planning and land use management promotes social and economic inclusion.
It provides for the sustainable and efficient use of land and redresses past imbalances. The Bill will, to a considerable degree, help undo the damage done by the Native Land Act of 1913, which reserved large tracts of prime land for whites only, forcing many African families in South Africa into crowded native reserves. Nearly 20 years since the advent of our democracy, the poor still reside in dusty townships far away from leafy suburbs and their places of work.
We are therefore pleased to see that attention has been paid to redress access to land by disadvantaged communities and persons previously excluded, with the emphasis, as the hon Minister has stated before at this podium, on informal settlements, former homeland areas and areas characterised by widespread poverty and deprivation.
However, in order for us to achieve the noble goals of this Bill, such as building social and economic inclusion, we need to establish the main factors that hinder policy implementation in South Africa, as hon Madisha, who was here before me, has said. South Africa is very good at developing good policies, but always fall short on implementation.
The UDM supports this Bill. Thank you.
Agb Adjunkspeaker, die Wetsontwerp op Ruintelike Beplanning en Grondgebruiksbestuur sal nie deur die VF Plus ondersteun word nie. Die rede is baie eenvoudig. Hierdie wetsontwerp is uiteindelik niks anders nie as 'n sentralisering van mag na "big brother" toe, wat dan sekere besluite moet neem wat eintlik onder meer deur plaaslike regerings geneem moet word.
Ek wil vandag s dat landelike en grondontwikkeling, spesifiek in munisipale gebiede, nie so eenvoudig is nie. U wil hierdie wetgewing gebruik omdat u dink dat u apartheid gaan aanpak. U gaan nou die afsonderlike gebiede, wat destyds ontwikkel is, aanpak. Ek wil vandag s dat die ontwikkeling van sekere gebiede in stede en dorpe ook oor ekonomiese kragte gaan. Dit is byvoorbeeld nie aanvaarbaar om laekostebehuising in 'n bepaalde gebied waar daar reeds hokostebehuising is, te gaan vestig nie. Dit het ekonomiese implikasies en het niks met ras te doen nie. Dit gaan oor ekonomiese magte en kragte, waardeur sekere eiendomswaardes dan verlaag gaan word.
Die spreker van die ANC het ges dat daardie munisipaliteite wat probleme het om ontwikkeling en beplanning te doen deur die departement bygestaan gaan word. Ek wil eerlik s dat die departement nie eers die vermo het om behoorlike grondhervorming, soos wat dit tans is, toe te pas en te administreer nie. Waar gaan hy nog behoorlike ontwikkeling, spesifiek op munisipale vlak, kan hanteer? Dit is vir ons onaanvaarbaar.
Ek wil ook vir die agb Minister s dat hy enige wetgewing deur hierdie Nasionale Vergadering kan laat gaan, maar as hy dit nie behoorlik kan toepas nie, is dit van nul en gener waarde. Kom ek gee voorbeelde. Ek het verlede jaar na Kameeldrift naby Brits se omgewing verwys. Dit is staatsgrond, maar dit word deur wettige en onwettige immigrante beset. Wallmansthal is nog 'n voorbeeld waar besetting plaasvind, maar daar word nie opgetree nie.
U kan 'n wet h, maar as u nie die bevoeghede en die vermo het om op te tree om dit behoorlik toe te pas nie, dan s ek vir u dat hierdie wetgewing net verder en groter chaos gaan veroorsaak, want dit word uit die hande van provinsies en van plaaslike regerings geneem. Dit is onaanvaarbaar. Ons kan nie 'n sentralisering van kragte h nie. Ons moet 'n desentralisasie van magte en kragte h. Ek dank u. (Translation of Afrikaans speech follows.)
[Mr P J GROENEWALD: Hon Deputy Speaker, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill will not be supported by the FF Plus. The reason is very simple. This Bill is, in fact, nothing but a centralisation of power towards big brother, who will then be taking certain decisions that should actually be taken by, amongst others, local authorities.
I can tell you now that rural and land development, in particular in municipal areas, is not that simple. You want to use this legislation because you think you will be addressing apartheid. You are now going to tackle the separate areas that were developed at that time. I can tell you today that the development of certain areas in cities and towns will also involve economic forces. For instance, it is not acceptable that low-cost housing is going to be located in a certain area which already has upmarket housing. This will have economic implications which have nothing to do with race. It is about economic power and forces, whereby certain property values will then be decreased.
The speaker for the ANC has said that those municipalities experiencing difficulties with development and planning are going to be assisted by the department. I can honestly say that the department does not even have the capacity for the implementation and administration of proper land reform, as it currently is. So, how can it ever cope with proper development, in particular at municipal level? This is unacceptable to us.
I also want to tell the Minister that he can pass any legislation through this National Assembly, but if he cannot implement it properly, it will be worthless. Let me mention a few examples. Last year I referred to Kameeldrift, in the vicinity of Brits. That is public land, but it is being occupied by legal and illegal immigrants. Wallmansthal is another example where occupation is taking place, but where no action is taken.
You can have a law, but if you don't have the power and capacity to take action in order to implement it properly, I can tell you that this legislation will only cause more and bigger chaos, because it will be taken out of the hands of the provinces and of local authorities. This is unacceptable. We cannot have centralisation of power. We should have decentralisation of powers and forces. I thank you.]
Deputy Speaker, this is a long awaited and much needed piece of legislation to regularise planning and land use management across the country. Regrettably, stakeholders say the department has not done enough to facilitate substantive input, particularly by organisations that work on behalf of the poor.
One of the main concerns expressed is the capacity of the country to implement and roll out the provisions of the Bill nationwide as there are not enough planning professionals to undertake even existing planning and land use management functions.
A number of key shortcomings in the Bill relate to a lack of clarity about the respective powers and functions of the different spheres of the state; the promotion of an integrated approach to urban informality, spatial inequality and environmental sustainability; the capacity constraints within the planning profession; and the appropriateness of present land use management tools within the context of communal areas.
Planners strongly urge the department to establish a clear monitoring and evaluation system if the Bill is passed in its current form. Ideally, this should include a panel composed of competent role-players drawn from across all sectors of society to sit every five years to consider the appropriateness and effectiveness of planning legislation and to make recommendations on how it could be modified and improved.
Lastly, the ACDP shares concerns that a clause was not introduced to ensure that the social and environmental value of land is taken into account. Unfortunately, the ACDP will not be able to support this Bill. Thank you.
Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen in the gallery, the 1994 African National Congress Policy Framework, commonly known as the Reconstruction and Development Programme, prioritised remedying the past racial injustices and laying a foundation for equitable development. The policy framework acknowledges that, and I quote:
Apartheid policy pushed millions of black South Africans into overcrowded and impoverished reserves, homelands and townships. In addition, capital- intensive agricultural policies led to the large-scale eviction of farm dwellers from their land and homes ... only a tiny minority of black people can afford land on the free market.
Similarly, our National Development Plan expresses this view about the social and economic legacy of colonialism and apartheid. It states that, and I quote:
The apartheid system forced much of the African people into rural reserves. The result was an advanced and diversified commercial farming sector relying on poorly paid farm labour and impoverished, densely populated communities with limited economic opportunities and minimal government services.
The most critical point in the spatial organisation of South Africa was the 1913 Land Act, whose purpose was to make land available for white farmers; impoverish black people through dispossession and prohibit all forms of farming arrangement made by black people, meaning that they became dependent on employment for survival, thus creating a pool of cheap labour for white farms and mines; and enforce the policy of racial segregation.
The entire apartheid engineering impoverished black people, stunted their economic development and caused a lot of suffering, humiliation and abuse of their human rights. The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is national framework legislation for a spatial planning and land use management system and other kinds of planning. It contributes to the realisation of the goals set by the Freedom Charter of 1955, which states that, and I quote:
Restrictions on land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land redivided among those who work it to banish famine and hunger ... all shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose.
The African National Congress identified land reform as follows, and I quote:
As part of a comprehensive rural development programme, it must raise incomes and productivity, and must encourage the use of land for agricultural, other productive or residential purposes.
The National Planning Commission has also documented proposals that eloquently capture the development goals for rural economy in this manner, and I quote:
By 2030, South Africa's rural communities should have greater opportunities to participate fully in the economic, social and political life of the country ... Successful land reform, job creation and rising agricultural production will all contribute to the development of an inclusive rural economy. An important question to this House is: What is the place of mining or agriculture in a spatial planning and land use management system, whose agenda is to transform and to seek to reverse the spatial effects of apartheid?
The Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform, during the public hearings on the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill, engaged with interest groups with diverse opinions on this matter. On the one hand, some wanted mining to be exempted from the provisions of this Bill; on the other, some believed that this stance would allow the national government to trample the constitutional powers of municipalities, preventing them from performing their planning functions. It has also been argued that, historically, mining has had an adverse impact on the communities' social and natural environments. Some also have argued that the concerns about cumulative impacts that the mining industry has on the resources of the country are addressed and governed by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and the National Environmental Management Act. Therefore, when implementing these Acts, other existing legislation needs to be taken into consideration. This means that the Act cannot be implemented in isolation of other existing Acts.
With the need to safeguard food security, there are also concerns regarding zoning schemes that change the use of prime and unique agricultural land into golf courses, housing developments and mining activities. Some argued for the protection of prime and unique agricultural land. Mining and agriculture are central to the economic prosperity of South Africa. Ensuing from the colonial and apartheid past, these issues cannot be separated from politics, democracy and governance.
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is a step in the right direction, because careful analysis of the Bill shows that it seeks to ensure that the system of spatial planning and land use management promotes social and economic inclusion; provides for sustainable and efficient use of land; provides for co-operative government and intergovernmental relations among national, provincial and local spheres of government; and redresses the imbalances of the past and ensures that there is equity in the application of spatial development planning and land use management.
The fact that mining is a national interest that affects the economic interest of South Africa as a whole, extends land to municipal and provincial boundaries, and the fact that vested land use and developmental rights have been acquired and exist under the current statutory provisions does not suggest the need for exclusion of mining from the Bill. It, however, highlights the need for finding mechanisms through which planning processes will take cognisance of the existing realities.
Exempting mining and agriculture from the provisions of this Bill may be tantamount to compromising and impeding the municipality's ability, or right, to exercise its powers to perform its functions on spatial planning and land use management.
If we agree to this proposal, it would render the government powerless and make private owners more powerful than the spheres of government. Integration between all sectors of the economy and municipalities is critical for growth.
In terms of clauses 33 (1) and (2) the Bill provides that, and I quote:
Except as provided in this Act, all land development applications must be submitted to a municipality as the authority for first instance. Despite subsection (1), where an application or authorisation is required in terms of any other legislation for a related land use, such application must also be made or such authorisation must also be requested in terms of that legislation.
In a similar vein, some have argued for the protection of prime and unique agricultural land, stating that South Africa has limited prime agricultural land. They argued that this should be protected from the expanding housing development, golf courses and mining. This argument is founded on the comprehensive rural development programme, which gives prioritisation to food security and encourages communities to grow their own food.
The development principles underpinning this Bill vouch for the principles of spatial justice, whereby past spatial and other development imbalances must be redressed through building a united and unitary state that is based on the will of the people as there will be public consultation in all the land use planning processes; the restoration of the birth rights of all South African citizens regarding access to land and economic resources, especially the previously disadvantaged communities; and participation in the preparation, adoption and amendment of land use schemes.
Rather than simplistic protection of prime and unique agricultural land, zoning and other land development planning that seeks to observe the objects of this legislation, which is transformational in nature to redress the imbalances of the past in terms of sustainable and efficient use of land, the Bill could be a tool through which agrarian transformation can be fast-tracked. The National Development Plan acknowledges that, and I quote:
Rural spatial planning has its own features. Government's efforts should focus on sensible and sustainable land reform, support to farmers, roll- out of household services and appropriate economic infrastructure such as roads and irrigation schemes. The focus of rural development must be to improve livelihoods through income generation, employment, household and social services.
There are two major challenges that face the land reform programme at present. The first one is the acceleration of transfer of land to the landless, and the second one is the provision of support for the productive use of transferred land. However, when dealing with agricultural land reform, it must be borne in mind that agriculture alone cannot solve the problem of rural poverty, but it certainly can play a significant role in it.
Agriculture contributes about 23% to the gross domestic product, GDP, and about 7% of formal employment, but there are strong linkages in the economy of the agro-industrial sector to comprise about 12% of the GDP. It is much more significant as an employer and it is a source of food and cash income to the people of South Africa, especially farm dwellers and rural people who depend on farming and working on farms for survival.
In conclusion, rural zoning debates should not only consider the merits for changing land use, but must consider bigger social and economic issues, as stated in the objects of the Bill, that is, to ensure that spatial planning and land use management promotes social and economic inclusion; to redress the imbalances of the past; and to ensure that there is equity in the application of the spatial development planning and land use management system. Therefore, the spatial planning and land use management system should assist the country to ensure that mining and agriculture result in social and economic development of the poor and must comply with the norms and standards of this Act. The categorisation of applications and timeframes that will be indicated by the Minister on processing applications will fast- track their consideration. Traditional leaders were informally consulted, and therefore were not totally excluded. Considering the intensive processes that have been undertaken by the committee in dealing with the Bill, I see no reason for this House not to adopt the report of the committee on spatial planning and land use management. I so move. Thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Deputy Speaker and hon members, the task at hand is for the state to take reasonable legislative measures and foster conditions that will enable citizens to gain equitable access to land. The question of access to land is a thorny and controversial subject in the South African context. Current planning laws are deeply flawed and lack an efficient legal framework, which then makes it an impossible task to plan for sustainable, integrated and equitable land use and development in South Africa.
A coherent and transparent regulatory framework is indeed long overdue and needs to be facilitated soonest. The hope is that this Bill is here to fill that gap, as was stipulated in the Constitutional Court in 2010. Government's failure to attend to defects in the Development Facilitation Act of 1995 is at the very least cause for concern, as the importance of this subject cannot be overstated.
We now have the National Planning Commission with its National Development Plan also reiterating that land use and spatial planning are crucial to the future of the country, which then makes it imperative that this Bill must adequately cover all issues previously raised and pass all tests, especially those that relate to its constitutionality, otherwise growth and progress will continue to be retarded.
However, our concern is that, as land restitution is mounted, those who once lived in one area and were moved during those dark days of the black spots will have to go back to their own land, but will still leave other people behind. As such it means that a community is torn between two places. We have noted the inconsiderate building of RDP houses on land that had been used for and is suitable for agricultural purposes. As we proceed, this cannot bode well for good land use and development.
The Bill fails to incorporate sufficient development principles relevant to the principle of sustainability, and fails to recognise the impact mining has had on communities. However, on the flip side, one good thing about the Bill is that, in an effort to stop the wrangling about the price of land, as the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach has not delivered adequately, we can welcome the establishment of the Office of the Evaluator-General, who will determine the price of any piece of land in case there is a dispute. I thank you.
Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers, hon members and our guests in the gallery, good afternoon. I dedicate this speech to Autshumato, the first prisoner on Robben Island and iNkosi yaBathwa Krotoa, the first woman on Robben Island ...
... Amakhosi aseMpuma Koloni ... [Chiefs from the Eastern Cape] ..., Makana kaNxele, Maqoma and Nkosikazi Katyi [Mrs Katyi], Siyolo nenkosikazi wakhe ... [and his wife] ... Tyhali, Langalibalele, noFadana [and Fadana].
This year marks the centenary of the 1913 Land Act, an Act that served to formalise land dispossession of the indigenous people of our land, laying a foundation for the apartheid racist policies that followed in 1948. With the promulgation of the Land Act, African people were suddenly exiled from the land of their forefathers. The Act formalised the theft of 87% of the land of African people, leaving them with 13% of the land, which was scattered in various provinces of the country.
The 1913 Land Act and the subsequent policies of the nationalist government resulted in untold sufferings and misery for black people in our country. In the past 18 years after our liberation, the ANC-led democratic government has been working hard to eliminate the legacy of dispossession, poverty and inequality that can be traced back directly to the promulgation of the Land Act. The ANC resolution in Polokwane and the ANC lekgotla in July 2011 emphasised that government should finalise, without delay, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill.
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is another important arsenal in our fight to reverse apartheid and colonial evils. South Africa urgently needs a coherent regulatory framework for spatial planning, land use management, land development and a planning system.
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill seeks to address the fragmented, unequal and incoherent spatial planning and land use management systems that exist in South Africa today.
The Bill has been through a long journey. The first attempts to legislate for a coherent and integrated planning system through the Development Facilitation Act, Act No 67 of 1995, did not succeed because of the continued existence of the old-order laws and parallel systems of land development permitted by different pieces of legislation. Since 2001, processes to develop a coherent system have been initiated with the White Paper on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management. Since then, various drafts of the Bill have been published for comments and have gone through extensive processes of consultation, legal counsel and further amendments.
The Bill seeks to provide a framework for spatial planning and land use management in the Republic. The Bill will bring to an end the persisting problem of a dual system characterised by a more sophisticated legal planning system in urban areas mainly occupied by white people as opposed to the less developed or almost absent planning system in the areas occupied mainly by black people.
The Bill is also intended to play a role in redressing the apartheid legacy that has manifested itself at different levels, such as racially-based land dispossessions, inequitable land distribution, dual land tenure systems, fragmented development and planning systems and acute poverty.
In February 2001, during the state of the nation address, President Mbeki stated that, and I quote:
Gradually, step by step, our country proceeds further away from its painful past. We, its citizens, who are very close to the coalface of change, may not easily see the steady transformation that informs all aspects of our national life. The past of which I speak is well known to all of us.
Indeed, he was correct, because some of us in the House still do not see that steady transformation today. Therefore, we are not surprised, hon Trollip, that the DA will not support the Bill, because it never supported transformation. [Applause.]
In terms of clause 2(1) and (2), once this Bill is enacted, it will apply to the entire area of South Africa to, and I quote:
Provide for a uniform, effective and comprehensive system of spatial planning and land use management for the Republic.
It will also ensure a system that promotes social and economic inclusion. Clause 3(e) provides that this Bill, when it comes into operation, will assist, and I quote:
... to redress the imbalances of the past and to ensure that there is equity in the application of spatial planning and land use management systems.
The legacies of colonial and apartheid governments and related social engineering are intrinsically connected to the spatial organisation of South Africa. It is a legacy characterised by planning dualism, to which I have just referred, which in the vast majority of the former independent TBVC homelands and self-governing territories of Gazankulu, KaNgwane, KwaNdebele, KwaZulu, Lebowa and Qwaqwa was carried out outside the planning system and was governed by a variety of different pieces of legislation.
Therefore, this Bill is transformative and also seeks to clarify the role of institutions such as traditional councils that, since time immemorial, have had the responsibility to take decisions on matters relating to land administration and use.
Section 211(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa provides that, and I quote:
The institution, status and role of traditional leadership, according to customary law, are recognised, subject to the Constitution.
The majority of municipalities perform their functions on land that has historically been under the authority of traditional councils as customary native authorities since the time of colonial conquests and apartheid rule. During public participation on this Bill, the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform received notice of many critical issues and has ensured that, in the Bill, such issues are dealt with. One of the crucial questions was who holds sway between a municipality and a traditional council that are expected to work together?
The Bill provides for consultations during preparations of the national, provincial, as well as municipal spatial development frameworks. With regard to land use management, clause 23(2) provides, and I quote:
A municipality, in the performance of its duties, in terms of this Chapter, must allow the participation of a traditional council.
Cebekhulu ohloniphekileyo, Nkosi yam, bendifuna ukugxila kakhulu kulo mcimbi kuba izinkosi ziza kuba nonxibelelwano nooMasipala, zisebenzisane ukuqinisekisa ukuba umhlaba usetyenziswa ekwandiseni ukuncedisa abantu bakuthi. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[The Hon Cebekhulu, my Chief, I wanted to emphasise this matter more, because the chiefs are going to interact with the municipalities, working together to make sure that the land is used mostly to benefit our people.]
The Bill makes clear the intent for public participation in development of land use schemes. In clause 24(2)(c) the Bill provides that an adopted land use scheme must, and I quote:
... include provisions that permit the incremental introduction of land use management and regulation in areas under traditional leadership, rural areas and informal settlements. With the enactment of this Bill, the days when cities continued to be designed for the well educated and the wealthy to the exclusion of the poor will be numbered. This Bill will reduce the burden of the poor who are forced to travel to and from the city as they cannot afford to stay in the major urban centres. With the passing of this Bill, we will be fulfilling our duty to redress the ills of both colonialism and apartheid.
In conclusion, let me close with the following quote from Nkosi Luthuli, following the treason trial. I quote:
What the future has in store for me, I do not know. I only pray to the Almighty to strengthen my resolve so that nothing may deter me from striving, for the sake of the good name of our beloved country, to make it a true democracy and a true union of all the communities in the land.
The ANC supports the Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to thank the hon members for supporting the Bill. By the way, I have no problem with the DA, because they say that the Bill is in line with their policy, but they will not support the Bill. [Laughter.] It is not clear what they really want.
They go on to say that in the Western Cape they have already started implementing some aspects of the Bill. That is what the hon Trollip said. We understand that and we agree because that is the truth - they have started doing that. However, what he wants to do is to claim that the Western Cape has led us in this direction, which is actually not the point here. The point is that we want to transform the South African society.
We thank the hon Madisha for the points he made, particularly the emphasis that he laid on areas of interest that will follow with regard to oversight. Thank you very much for that.
We accept the interesting comments made by hon Cebekhulu, and we thank him very much for that. But the hon members before me have already made comments concerning the centralisation of power, hon Groenewald.
You know, the way the Bill is structured, it is a Bill of the whole government and not just a national Bill - it is a Bill of the whole government.
Secondly, at the national level, we have taken the responsibility of ensuring that we help build capacity, both at provincial and municipal levels. We are already working with provinces, helping them to develop legislation that is in line with the context of this Bill. We are also helping some municipalities developing their bylaws; we are actually working on that.
We do admit that we do not have the capacity that is required in terms of the planners that would be required to implement the Bill, but we are working together and we can achieve that, because it is not just national government, but all of us. We have to build the capacity that is required to do this.
We thank you very much, hon Deputy Speaker, for supporting the Bill and I hope that the DA will change its mind during the next 20 seconds. [Laughter.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a second time (Democratic Alliance, Independent Democrats, Freedom Front Plus, Congress of the People, African Christian Democratic Party and United Christian Democratic Party dissenting).