Hon Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, ladies and gentlemen in the gallery, the 1994 African National Congress Policy Framework, commonly known as the Reconstruction and Development Programme, prioritised remedying the past racial injustices and laying a foundation for equitable development. The policy framework acknowledges that, and I quote:
Apartheid policy pushed millions of black South Africans into overcrowded and impoverished reserves, homelands and townships. In addition, capital- intensive agricultural policies led to the large-scale eviction of farm dwellers from their land and homes ... only a tiny minority of black people can afford land on the free market.
Similarly, our National Development Plan expresses this view about the social and economic legacy of colonialism and apartheid. It states that, and I quote:
The apartheid system forced much of the African people into rural reserves. The result was an advanced and diversified commercial farming sector relying on poorly paid farm labour and impoverished, densely populated communities with limited economic opportunities and minimal government services.
The most critical point in the spatial organisation of South Africa was the 1913 Land Act, whose purpose was to make land available for white farmers; impoverish black people through dispossession and prohibit all forms of farming arrangement made by black people, meaning that they became dependent on employment for survival, thus creating a pool of cheap labour for white farms and mines; and enforce the policy of racial segregation.
The entire apartheid engineering impoverished black people, stunted their economic development and caused a lot of suffering, humiliation and abuse of their human rights. The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is national framework legislation for a spatial planning and land use management system and other kinds of planning. It contributes to the realisation of the goals set by the Freedom Charter of 1955, which states that, and I quote:
Restrictions on land ownership on a racial basis shall be ended, and all the land redivided among those who work it to banish famine and hunger ... all shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose.
The African National Congress identified land reform as follows, and I quote:
As part of a comprehensive rural development programme, it must raise incomes and productivity, and must encourage the use of land for agricultural, other productive or residential purposes.
The National Planning Commission has also documented proposals that eloquently capture the development goals for rural economy in this manner, and I quote:
By 2030, South Africa's rural communities should have greater opportunities to participate fully in the economic, social and political life of the country ... Successful land reform, job creation and rising agricultural production will all contribute to the development of an inclusive rural economy. An important question to this House is: What is the place of mining or agriculture in a spatial planning and land use management system, whose agenda is to transform and to seek to reverse the spatial effects of apartheid?
The Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform, during the public hearings on the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill, engaged with interest groups with diverse opinions on this matter. On the one hand, some wanted mining to be exempted from the provisions of this Bill; on the other, some believed that this stance would allow the national government to trample the constitutional powers of municipalities, preventing them from performing their planning functions. It has also been argued that, historically, mining has had an adverse impact on the communities' social and natural environments. Some also have argued that the concerns about cumulative impacts that the mining industry has on the resources of the country are addressed and governed by the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act and the National Environmental Management Act. Therefore, when implementing these Acts, other existing legislation needs to be taken into consideration. This means that the Act cannot be implemented in isolation of other existing Acts.
With the need to safeguard food security, there are also concerns regarding zoning schemes that change the use of prime and unique agricultural land into golf courses, housing developments and mining activities. Some argued for the protection of prime and unique agricultural land. Mining and agriculture are central to the economic prosperity of South Africa. Ensuing from the colonial and apartheid past, these issues cannot be separated from politics, democracy and governance.
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Bill is a step in the right direction, because careful analysis of the Bill shows that it seeks to ensure that the system of spatial planning and land use management promotes social and economic inclusion; provides for sustainable and efficient use of land; provides for co-operative government and intergovernmental relations among national, provincial and local spheres of government; and redresses the imbalances of the past and ensures that there is equity in the application of spatial development planning and land use management.
The fact that mining is a national interest that affects the economic interest of South Africa as a whole, extends land to municipal and provincial boundaries, and the fact that vested land use and developmental rights have been acquired and exist under the current statutory provisions does not suggest the need for exclusion of mining from the Bill. It, however, highlights the need for finding mechanisms through which planning processes will take cognisance of the existing realities.
Exempting mining and agriculture from the provisions of this Bill may be tantamount to compromising and impeding the municipality's ability, or right, to exercise its powers to perform its functions on spatial planning and land use management.
If we agree to this proposal, it would render the government powerless and make private owners more powerful than the spheres of government. Integration between all sectors of the economy and municipalities is critical for growth.
In terms of clauses 33 (1) and (2) the Bill provides that, and I quote:
Except as provided in this Act, all land development applications must be submitted to a municipality as the authority for first instance. Despite subsection (1), where an application or authorisation is required in terms of any other legislation for a related land use, such application must also be made or such authorisation must also be requested in terms of that legislation.
In a similar vein, some have argued for the protection of prime and unique agricultural land, stating that South Africa has limited prime agricultural land. They argued that this should be protected from the expanding housing development, golf courses and mining. This argument is founded on the comprehensive rural development programme, which gives prioritisation to food security and encourages communities to grow their own food.
The development principles underpinning this Bill vouch for the principles of spatial justice, whereby past spatial and other development imbalances must be redressed through building a united and unitary state that is based on the will of the people as there will be public consultation in all the land use planning processes; the restoration of the birth rights of all South African citizens regarding access to land and economic resources, especially the previously disadvantaged communities; and participation in the preparation, adoption and amendment of land use schemes.
Rather than simplistic protection of prime and unique agricultural land, zoning and other land development planning that seeks to observe the objects of this legislation, which is transformational in nature to redress the imbalances of the past in terms of sustainable and efficient use of land, the Bill could be a tool through which agrarian transformation can be fast-tracked. The National Development Plan acknowledges that, and I quote:
Rural spatial planning has its own features. Government's efforts should focus on sensible and sustainable land reform, support to farmers, roll- out of household services and appropriate economic infrastructure such as roads and irrigation schemes. The focus of rural development must be to improve livelihoods through income generation, employment, household and social services.
There are two major challenges that face the land reform programme at present. The first one is the acceleration of transfer of land to the landless, and the second one is the provision of support for the productive use of transferred land. However, when dealing with agricultural land reform, it must be borne in mind that agriculture alone cannot solve the problem of rural poverty, but it certainly can play a significant role in it.
Agriculture contributes about 23% to the gross domestic product, GDP, and about 7% of formal employment, but there are strong linkages in the economy of the agro-industrial sector to comprise about 12% of the GDP. It is much more significant as an employer and it is a source of food and cash income to the people of South Africa, especially farm dwellers and rural people who depend on farming and working on farms for survival.
In conclusion, rural zoning debates should not only consider the merits for changing land use, but must consider bigger social and economic issues, as stated in the objects of the Bill, that is, to ensure that spatial planning and land use management promotes social and economic inclusion; to redress the imbalances of the past; and to ensure that there is equity in the application of the spatial development planning and land use management system. Therefore, the spatial planning and land use management system should assist the country to ensure that mining and agriculture result in social and economic development of the poor and must comply with the norms and standards of this Act. The categorisation of applications and timeframes that will be indicated by the Minister on processing applications will fast- track their consideration. Traditional leaders were informally consulted, and therefore were not totally excluded. Considering the intensive processes that have been undertaken by the committee in dealing with the Bill, I see no reason for this House not to adopt the report of the committee on spatial planning and land use management. I so move. Thank you. [Applause.]