cities

The promulgation of SPLUMA presents some important opportunities for cities to plan more
effectively for transformative outcomes.
• SPLUMA as a transformative tool: SPLUMA provides certainty to new and existing
property investors through clear and effective planning processes. Planning tools include
informal uses within the town planning schemes and provide a clear vision with
appropriate detail as to how the city intends to develop its built environment. The SDF will
be the key tool for defining the intended form of the city (SACN, 2015a), as it can identify
areas of priority for development and the type of land use, as well as propose residential
densities. SPLUMA brings legislative legitimacy to SDFs, which will need to be drafted
carefully because decisions made based on SDFs will have to withstand legal challenges.
• Effective LUMS: In addition to the SDFs, the LUMS and associated tools will be critical
for achieving spatial transformation, and LUMS will need to be closely aligned to the
SDFs. For the first time, cities have a single land-use management scheme that
considers both informal and formal uses.
• Implementation of SPLUMA: Municipalities will have to employ more planning
professionals, and there will be a period of adjustment while municipalities, provinces,
developers, homeowners and residents get used to the implications of the new Act.
The Act’s success will depend on the extent to which residents comply and whether
the development management mechanisms for addressing undesirable development
will be sufficient. The implementation of SPLUMA could also be derailed by provincial
and national sector departments that refuse to recognise the primacy of local
government in making land development decisions.
2
Human settlements
The provision of housing in South Africa is considered one of the most significant and important
projects in “redressing our inheritance, deconstructing the socio-spatial economic incoherence, and
reframing for more socially just outcomes” (Vawda, 2014: xiii). The White Paper on Housing (DoH,
1994) sets out the framework for housing, and “the establishment of viable, socially and economically
integrated communities, situated in areas allowing convenient access to economic opportunities as
well as health, educational and social amenities” (DoH, 1994: 19).
Various Constitutional Court cases have tested the housing policy and affected in particular the role of
local government. The most recent and far-reaching of these was the 2011 Blue Moonlight judgement, 14
where the Court ruled that the state (and local government, in particular) was responsible for finding
alternative accommodation for people evicted from not only state property but also private property.
This case will have critical implications for broader city and human settlement planning, as well as for
financial planning at the local level (Joseph and Karuri-Sebina, 2014).
14 City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Blue Moonlight Properties 39 (Pty) Ltd and Another (CC) [2011] ZACC 33; 2012 (2) BCLR 150
(CC); 2012 (2) SA 104 (CC) (1 December 2011)
THE SPATIAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOUTH AFRICA’S CITIES 65