The controversial Spatial Land Use Management (SPLUM) by-laws were adopted at a recent council meeting in Germiston.
This is despite the by-laws being severely problematic and flawed, according to the DA.
The DA expressed reservations with the item at the previous council meeting and following pressure from the party, the by-laws were referred back to the City Planning Oversight Committee.
“At the council meeting a majority ANC-coalition in council chose to ignore the glaring legal issues and push through the item anyway,” said Clr Ilaria di Siena, DA member of the City Planning Oversight Committee in Ekurhuleni.
“The problematic natures of the by-laws were well-documented, with the DA formally expressing our reservations with the item through the submission of a minority report, which contains a staggering 31 objections to the item.”
According to di Siena, the most prominent of these objectives include the following:
• The unconstitutional requirement that city planners must be registered with the South African Council for Planners (SACPLAN) before making submissions to the metro despite no such job reservation being finalised.
• Proper processes around the public participation related to the by-laws were not properly followed, thereby excluding public opinion on the matter.
Related to this was the incompetence of the South African Post Office which allegedly did not adequately circulate the notice of the public participation required in the implementation of the by-laws.
• Critically, the metro also ignored the warning by the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), stating that municipal officials get councillors to approve things they don’t understand.
• The metro’s blatant disregard of their constitutional mandate of holding the executive mayor to account.
The passing of these by-laws is a blight on the municipal council and exposes the metro’s disregard for legal processes, as well as flouting of their duties as public representatives.
“We are deeply disappointed that councillors could not put aside their political differences and craft the by-laws in a way that would assist city planners in creating economic growth that this metro so desperately needs,” said di Siena.
“The by-laws as they stand will only bring rise to unnecessary and expensive legal challenges in court.
“We warned that we will expose any wasteful expenditure in legal battles and insist on holding the executive to account in their personal capacity.”
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