Land development in SA

LECTURE 10

What is land use management

• Land use management = system regulating how land is accessed, held, used, developed, and traded.

Before town planning schemes how was land governed and could people use land freely

• Before town planning schemes, land use was governed by common law (contracts, property rights, nuisance law).

• People could use land freely unless it disturbed neighbors or created a public nuisance.

Title deed restricitons were early controls

• Do they override zoning

• What does removal require

• Restrictive conditions override zoning.

• Removal requires application under SPLUMA (2013) with public participation and motivation.

How do title deed restrictions override zoning and why

• Even if local zoning laws permit a specific use (like running a business or building a second dwelling), you cannot legally proceed if your title deed explicitly prohibits it, unless the restriction is formally removed or amended.

• because they represent a binding private contract rather than a public law. While municipalities set the permissible use of land through zoning laws, private title deed conditions create specific limitations agreed upon by property owners

What 3 countries influenced the origins of planning in SA,how did each do that and what was the aim with planning

• Influenced by British town planning (industrial revolution response).

• Adopted American zoning ideas to protect amenity.

• Roman‑Dutch law also shaped property rights.

• Aimed to improve health and safety (overcrowding, pollution, poor services).

What reinforced apartheid spatial segregation

• Black Land Act (1913) divided land by race.

• Group Areas Act (1950) entrenched racial segregation in urban space.

Public control Pre-2013

Define

Acts

Ordiances

Town planning schemes and bylaws

• Acts (national laws passed by parliament)

• Ordinances (provincial rules).

• Town planning schemes & bylaws (local level).

Acts cancelled in 2010

Development facilitation Act (67 of 1995)

• Removal of Restrictions Act (84 of 1967

• Physical Planning Act (88 of 1967)

• Less Formal Township Establishment Act (113 of 1991)

• Physical Planning Act (125 of 1991

Existing planning controls in SA( need to know)

🎭Existing Planning Controls – Current Acts

• Municipal Systems Act (2000).(equires municipalities to prepare Integrated Development Plans (IDPs).Ensures local government has a framework for service delivery and development.

• Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA, 2013).

📚 Existing Planning Controls – Ordinances & Bylaws

• Town Planning & Townships Ordinance (1986).(governs township establishment and land use changes.)

• Division of Land Ordinance (1986).

• Local Land Use Management Bylaws.

Formal Town Planning Procedures

• Township establishment.

• Rezoning (scheme amendments).

• Consent use applications.

• Removal of restrictive title conditions.

• Subdivision & consolidation of land.

3 Challenges facing the planning system

-Fragmentation

-Legacy

-Balancing

• Fragmentation across levels of government.

• Legacy of apartheid spatial inequality.

• Balancing development needs with fairness and sustainability.