An aerial view of Cape Town.
Image: Henk Kruger/Independent Newspapers
The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has come under fire for its alleged manipulation of the Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT), using it as an extension of the city’s planning department and making it an instrument to execute their policies.
The City has come under fire after the first instalment of a planned three-part investigative series by the Daily Maverick has revealed the political capture of the MPT. The MPT is responsible for approving multi-billion rand land-use and development projects, such as the controversial Amazon headquarters at the River Club.
Under national law, members are strictly restricted to a maximum ten-year limit.
However, according to the report, the council quietly passed an amended by-law that effectively removed these term limits, allowing favoured committee members to be reappointed, essentially serving for life.
Officials and critics have spoken out, saying the City has unethically controlled the MPT to enforce their vision for Cape Town, instead of allowing the tribunal to act as an independent body.
Chair of Cape Town Collective Ratepayers’ Association (CTCRA) Bas Zuidberg, which has 45 ratepayer associations and civic organisations, said that following the fixed tariffs case, this appears to be another example where CoCT believes the law (SPLUMA - Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act) does not apply to them, which is very concerning.
“CTCRA and its members objected to the changes that CoCT proposed in the latest Municipal Planning By-Law with regard to the MPT member. We never received a reply to any of our objections, including this one,” Zuidberg said.
“The MPT members are not held to account at all. It is telling that the council was not able or willing to provide statistics on the number of objections and how the MPT ruled on these objections. It indicates that the MPT is not self-reflective by nature,” Zuidberg said.
“In essence, we believe that following the change, the MPT has become an extension of the CoCT planning department and thereby an instrument of the CoCT to execute its policies. This is not the role that the MPT should be playing. SPLUMA is very clear on why a maximum term and independent members are important. It should be an independent adjucator of differences in opinion between applicants, objectors and CoCT.”
Zuidberg said that the unlawful changes to the planning by-law allowing MPT members to stay on indefinitely, without any accountability to the public and without independent members, effectively stack the cards even more against communities seeking to have influence on the spatial planning decisions in their areas and make the MPT a rubber stamp for the council’s objectives.
Image: Supplied
Advocate Rod Solomons, convenor of the #SA1stForum, asked if this is not proof that Cape Town is for sale to developers and “cronies”.
“The playbook is seemingly to surreptitiously operate within the by-laws or amend the by-laws in such a way to achieve your objectives. Sneak in by-laws or amendments in such a way that residents are none the wiser, and if there are objections, flap it away and use your majority in Council to get it passed.
“You saw how quickly they got the development at the River Club over the line, in spite of solid and substantial objections from a significant number of entities, including Heritage Western Cape and their own officials.”
GOOD mayoral candidate, Brett Herron, said: “We did not pick up this small, but deeply cynical and unethical (probably illegal) amendment about terms-of-office limitations for Planning Tribunal members. I regret that. Though objecting to it would’ve made no difference - the DA used their majority to ignore all objections.”
Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews.
Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers (Archives)
Deputy Mayor and Mayco Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Eddie Andrews, has said that the MPT members have always acted beyond reproach and that they have expertise the City cannot afford to lose.
“The MPT currently consists of 24 members, 8 external members and 16 internal members across City departments. As for the eight external members serving on the MPT: three members have served 10 years, one member has served nine years, and four members have served five years.
“The chair’s appointment is for a five-year term, and it would be for Council to consider whether he may be reappointed after 30 June 2030, subject to his availability,” Andrews said.
He said that over the past 10 years, more than 60% of MPT members have resigned and been replaced.
“These resignations were due to other work pressures, a change to a member’s appointment status, retirement, or personal reasons. This pattern is not expected to change, as it is hard to find suitable, knowledgeable and experienced persons. Thus, the need to keep existing experienced MPT members for as long as possible while they are still available to serve is critical.”
When asked if they are challenging SPLUMA, Andrews said that “there is no need for the City to challenge national legislation”.
“The City submitted a long-standing request to the relevant national department… The relevant minister has, on request from Council, provided the City with the necessary support to appoint MPT members for a further five years.
“There are very complex considerations the MPT must take into consideration before making an informed decision; therefore the need for knowledgeable and experienced members who are not easily available.”
Andrews said assertions to cast doubt on decision-making of the MPT are concerning, where they are made without substantiated evidence.
“To date, no individual or group has presented any credible evidence of wrongdoing, bias, fraud, procedural irregularity, or non-compliance on the part of the MPT,” Andrew said.