Council has not taken the path to a world-class Joburg

A document which will profoundly affect Johannesburg’s future was passed by council on Thursday, despite efforts by some councillors.

I am ashamed that, collectively, we did not do enough to ensure a better document was produced to help shape this great metro. Historians will pinpoint the Nodal Review Approval Report as an opportunity where the path to a world-class city was not taken.

Instead, a combination of personal and political point-scoring – and corruption – increased the likelihood of collapsing, overburdened infrastructure and a dystopian wasteland of suburban decay.

Of all the issues raised during two years of engagement on the nodal review, two stand out: infrastructure and public participation.

Everyone associated with property development in Johannesburg knows the obvious. This city is not coping in terms of roads, electricity, water, sewerage, etc. Traffic jams, electricity and water outages, pipe bursts, long-life potholes, overflowing sewers and stormwater drains occur across the city. A previous mayor gave a detailed presentation on this in 2017.

City entities are supposed to sign off for every new development, attesting that there is adequate provision for infrastructure and services. Many signatures are worthless. There is no comeback for the signatory, who may have been bribed. Responsibility slides away.

What we sought, and were assured of in writing, were infrastructure “overlays”. These would detail how much had been budgeted for infrastructure and how this budget would be spent. We wanted to tighten up on municipal planning tribunals, whose composition seems to flout the overarching legislation, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (Spluma). We also identified further noncompliance with Spluma.

Public participation was derisory. That’s why you don’t know how nodal policy will affect your neighbourhood. Attendance registers are dominated by city officials, plus developers and others who profit in this field.

There is no indication of buy-in from folk in townships or informal settlements, the supposed beneficiaries of transformation. Public meetings organised by the city were poorly attended. Neither the facilitators, nor audiences showed much grasp of what was at stake.

Privately organised meetings were well-attended, prompting initiatives to oppose the nodal review. Legal action seems likely.

The city is obliged to review its metropolitan, regional, district, neighbourhood and transit-oriented nodes. Nodes are areas where increased densities and land use mixes are promoted (for example, a mix of housing and commercial buildings).

Colleagues accept without question the need to undo apartheid spatial planning. Densification is inevitable. But to proceed without meaningful public participation and without due regard for infrastructure is reckless.

There is speculation that tensions over the document may have played a role in the resignation of DA caucus leader and regional chair Funzi Ngobeni on Monday. The claim is made by senior folk in Joburg, but I don’t believe it.

What I do know is that we tried, over many months and with some success, to bring about changes to the nodal review.

That process was not complete when political leadership changed at the end of last year. Take node. If need be, take action.

Martin Williams, DA councillor and former editor of The Citizen.

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