Eastern Cape CoGTA SPLUM Policy Submission

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To find out more about Spatial Planning and Land Use Management (SPLUM) generally, click here

On 21 July 2016 sixteen civil society organisations in the Eastern Cape submitted a petition to the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (EC-CoGTA) making recommendations as to what they would like to see in future provincial Spatial planning and Land Use Management (SPLUM) policy and legislation. For a copy of the petition that was submitted click here, and for a copy of the the covering letter click here. For a Xhosa translation of the petition click here.

On 4 August 2016 we were informed by the office of the Head of Department for the Eastern Cape Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs that the petition had been forwarded to the legal services department for their input. We await a further response.
The organisations that have endorsed this petition are:

  1. Tholulwazi Development Organisation
  2. Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM),
  3. CALUSA
  4. Matatiele Advice Centre
  5. Duncan Village Youth Developmental Initiative (DVYDI)
  6. Private Eye Community Watch Project
  7. HIVOS
  8. Catholic Development Centre
  9. Eastern Cape NGO Coalition (ECNGOC)
  10. Youth Potential South Africa (YOUPSA)
  11. Somila Community Development Association
  12. Imbasa Community Services
  13. Phuhlisani
  14. Siyandiswa Family Co-operation
  15. Buffalo City Civic Association
  16. Afesis-corplan
  17. Ntinga Ntaba kaNdoda
  18. BRC (Border Rural Committee)

The petition calls on the EC-CoGTA to incorporate the following recommendations into future SPLUM policy and legislation in the Eastern Cape:

  1. Involve the public throughout the process of development, implementation and continual review of provincial SPLUM policy and legislation.
  2. Improve community participation in the development of Spatial Development Framework (SDF) plans.
  3. Develop more detailed guidelines for how to establish and maintain Land Use Schemes, especially in communal areas.
  4. Include people with experience in the entire spectrum of development, both urban and rural, on Municipal Planning Tribunals.
  5. Make it more affordable and easier for ordinary members of the public to appeal land use decisions.
  6. Clarify and recognise the role of government, traditional leaders, other community leadership structures, and other community stakeholders in the SPLUM process.
  7. See the principle of ‘free prior and informed consent’ of communities in decision making processes forming the backbone of any provincial policy and legislation.

If your organisation would still like to endorse this petition, please send a e-mail to info@testing.ongeziwe.co.za indicating that you endorse the SPLUM petition – reference number EC-SPLUM-no.01-2016. We will add your name to the list above.

 

These recommendations are the outcome of a process that started in October 2015 when Afesis-corplan, in partnership with the Eastern Cape NGO Coalition, hosted a seminar on spatial planning and land use management (SPLUM), and organised, in February 2016, a task team workshop to develop draft recommendations.

 

On 15 September 2016, a Civil Society Task Team met with officials from the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Co-operative Government (EC-CoGTA) to present and further discuss the petition recommendations and start to explore how these recommendations could be incorporated into provincial SPLUM policy and legislation. The following are presentations and reports relating to this dialogue workshop:

 

By May 2017 there was still no formal response to the original petition.  On 4 May 2017, Afesis-corplan submitted a follow up letter to the EC-CoGTA requesting an update on what actions the department was taking to respond to our petition.  As of 5 June 2017 we still await a response.

 

To find out more about SPLUM read background document on spatial planning and land use management, and click here for a Xhosa translation of this background document. To find out more about SPLUM generally click here
Use the following address for a shorter URL for this webpage: http://goo.gl/0uPRw1

 

Click here to return to SPLUM information page on the Incremental Settlement website.

 

To endorse the SPLUM petition, please click here to email us your name and organisation as endorsement.