Mr Speaker, hon colleagues, and members of the House, the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is premised on a transformative spatial vision with clear proposals to achieve spatial equity, integration, sustainability, good land administration and efficiency.
The pivotal principle underlying this Bill is spatial justice, which is expressed in the following six elements. Firstly, past spatial and other development imbalances must be redressed through improved access to and use of land. Secondly, spatial development frameworks and policies in all spheres of government must address the inclusion of persons and areas that were previously excluded, with emphasis on informal settlements, former homeland areas and areas characterised by widespread poverty and deprivation. Thirdly, spatial planning mechanisms, including land use schemes, must incorporate provisions that enable redress in access to land by previously disadvantaged communities and persons. Fourthly, land use management systems must include all areas of a municipality and specifically include provisions that are flexible and appropriate for the management of disadvantaged areas, informal settlements and former homeland areas. Fifthly, land development procedures must include provisions that accommodate access to secure tenure and incremental upgrading of informal areas. Lastly, a land use regulator considering an application before it may not be impeded or restricted in the exercise of its discretion on the grounds that the value of land or property could be affected by the outcome of the application.
Mr Speaker, the Surplus People Project of 1983, SPP 1983, reported about ...
... le nto kuthiwa namhlanje yi-betterment planning. Le nto iyi-betterment planning bekusithiwa iza kulungisa intlalo yabantu kuba ibigxile kumhlaba wezolimo. Ingxaki ibikukususwa kwabantu ababengaphezulu kwezigidi ezithathu esinesiqingatha. Loo nto yabangela ukuhlukumezeka kwabantu kuba basuswa kwiindawo ababehlala kuzo.
Kodwa loo nto ibalulekile kuba sifuna ukuqinisekisa ukuba lo Mthetho oYilwayo apha ngoku ibe nguMthetho oza kubuyisela isidima ebantwini. Sifuna ukuba lo Mthetho osaYilwayo ibe nguMthetho oza kuthi ubethe kanye entloko lo Mthetho wobandlululo wasusa abantu ezindaweni zabo, beqhathwa ngelithi kuza kulinywa, bengazange babuyekezwa ngendlela efanelekileyo. Kodwa ke siyayiqonda nento yokuba Somlomo ohloniphekileyo, ukuba lo Mthetho unobunzima kuba ugxile kuzo zonke izigaba zikarhulumente: urhulumente wesizwe, wamaphondo norhulumente wooMasipala. Siyayazi ukuba iza kuba ngumceli-mngeni omkhulu kwezinye izigaba zikarhulumente kuba ooMasipala ayingabo bonke abanezakhono zokuba bakwazi ukwenza umsebenzi ololu hlobo.
Njengoko kwingxelo, ndiqinisekile ukuba uSihlalo weKomiti yeMicimbi yeSebe lezoPhuhliso lwamaPhandle noHlengahlengiso lwemiHlaba uza kuthetha ngalento, yokuba belisebe banaso isicwangciso sokuncedisana nooMasipala kunye namaphondo ukwandisa izakhono zabo. Esi cwangciso siya kuthi sibancedise ukwenza uMthetho okanye imiThetho yamaphondo ezakube isekelwe kulo Mthetho osaYilwayo wesizwe. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[... what today is called betterment planning, which was touted to better people's lives because of its focus on agricultural land. The problem was the removal of more than three and a half million people from their land. These forced removals caused untold human suffering.
However, it is important to make sure that the Bill we are deliberating now will restore the dignity of the people. We want to make sure that it addresses the core of the apartheid legislation that led to forced removal of people from their land under the guise of clearing land for agricultural purposes, without them being properly compensated.
However, hon Speaker, we are aware of the challenges related to this Bill, considering that it affects all three spheres of government: national, provincial and local government. We know that implementing this Bill is going to be a huge challenge for the local sphere of government because not all municipalities have the skill and the expertise required to do so.
I am sure that in his report the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform will touch on this important point, that the department does have a plan in place to empower local and provincial governments with more skills. This plan will help these two spheres of government to come up with legislation in line with this Bill.]
Mr Speaker, efforts to develop this Bill commenced about 12 years ago, and we note that considerable time has been spent on engagements and consultations. The weighty issues dealt with in this Bill, especially the sustained interest by different role-players, confirm the enormity and the importance of the issues raised in this Bill.
All sectors of our society are impacted by proposals in this Bill. We are humbled by the huge number of comments we received in written form and during the series of workshops we had on the Bill. After the introduction of the Bill in this House, the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform spent considerable energy going through the detail of the Bill. The committee conducted robust sessions of public hearings and sought specialists' legal opinion on this Bill. The result is a Bill that has been enriched by all. We are grateful to the committee for the leadership and dedication it demonstrated during this long and arduous process. Thank you, hon Speaker. [Applause.]