Date: 5 October 2020
Release: Immediate
The DA notes that the newly developed Mangaung Spatial Development Framework (SDF) adopted as part of the 2020/21 Budget supporting documents by council on 30 June 2020 was gazetted on 4 September 2020 (see attached).
This is the result of sustained pressure by the DA to ensure that the SDF for Mangaung is brought in line with statutory requirements since 2015.
The previous SDFs were never gazetted as required by the 2013 SPLUMA Act and the DA was of the opinion that public participation and other processes in compilation and review of previous SDFs fell short of statutory requirements in the past.
Although the content and format of the new SDF shows very significant improvement on the previous versions, the DA still raised serious concerns with some of the contents and processes followed to approve the new SDF. Concerns were as follows:
· Failure to consider and incorporate or respond to comments and objections received; and
· Failure to table comments and objections received in council as part of the SDF documentation and specifically the failure to adequately engage the stakeholders on the proposed change in land use of the Bloemfontein Zoo to mixed land use.
The DA is aware of serious concerns raised regarding issues such as the plans for the Zoo that simply have been ignored which points to the more general failure to uphold the constitutional requirements for the real public participation in Mangaung Metro. The DA previously raised concerns with the administration, regarding the draft SDF that was not formally gazetted for comment as required by legislation.
The DA will continue to monitor the processes followed to amend and review the newly adopted and gazetted SDF to ensure the administration complies with administrative justice in its spatial planning and land use management processes. If correctly used, the SDF can play a vital role in the future economic, spatial, environmental and social sustainability of the a city.
Copies of the SDF are available here:
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AnKGME0y4GVLg5odsuQYi8QnILFlkg
Councillor Tjaart van der Walt 