{"id":213569,"date":"2019-08-07T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/213569\/metro-steamrolls-splum-by-laws-through-council-despite-being-legally-flawed\/"},"modified":"2019-08-07T16:02:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T14:02:49","slug":"metro-steamrolls-splum-by-laws-through-council-despite-being-legally-flawed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/germiston-city-news\/news-headlines\/2019\/08\/07\/metro-steamrolls-splum-by-laws-through-council-despite-being-legally-flawed\/","title":{"rendered":"Metro steamrolls SPLUM by-laws through council despite being legally flawed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The controversial Spatial Land Use Management (SPLUM) by-laws were adopted at a recent council meeting in Germiston.<\/p>\n<p>This is despite the by-laws being severely problematic and flawed, according to the DA.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>The DA expressed reservations with the item at the previous council meeting and following pressure from the party, the by-laws were referred back to the City Planning Oversight Committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the council meeting a majority ANC-coalition in council chose to ignore the glaring legal issues and push through the item anyway,\u201d said Clr Ilaria di Siena, DA member of the City Planning Oversight Committee in Ekurhuleni.<\/p><div class=\"stream-item stream-item-in-post stream-item-inline-post aligncenter\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe problematic natures of the by-laws were well-documented, with the DA formally expressing our reservations with the item through the submission of a minority report, which contains a staggering 31 objections to the item.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to di Siena, the most prominent of these objectives include the following:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 The unconstitutional requirement that city planners must be registered with the South African Council for Planners (SACPLAN) before making submissions to the metro despite no such job reservation being finalised.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Proper processes around the public participation related to the by-laws were not properly followed, thereby excluding public opinion on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Related to this was the incompetence of the South African Post Office which allegedly did not adequately circulate the notice of the public participation required in the implementation of the by-laws.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Critically, the metro also ignored the warning by the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC), stating that municipal officials get councillors to approve things they don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 The metro\u2019s blatant disregard of their constitutional mandate of holding the executive mayor to account.<\/p>\n<p>The passing of these by-laws is a blight on the municipal council and exposes the metro\u2019s disregard for legal processes, as well as flouting of their duties as public representatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are deeply disappointed that councillors could not put aside their political differences and craft the by-laws in a way that would assist city planners in creating economic growth that this metro so desperately needs,\u201d said di Siena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe by-laws as they stand will only bring rise to unnecessary and expensive legal challenges in court.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe warned that we will expose any wasteful expenditure in legal battles and insist on holding the executive to account in their personal capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/206940\/flawed-splum-by-laws-referred-back-for-review-after-da-pressure\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u2018Flawed\u2019 SPLUM by-laws referred back for review after DA pressure<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<h4><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/208303\/metros-exco-whippery-conducts-site-inspection-in-hijacked-buildings-in-germiston\/\" target=\"_blank\">Metro\u2019s exco, whippery, conducts site inspection in hijacked buildings in Germiston<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>Hav<\/strong><strong>e a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor)<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"http:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-admin\/germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za\">germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>or Leigh Hodgson (News Editor)<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"mailto:leighh@caxton.co.za\">leighh@caxton.co.za<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>or Kgotsofalang Mashilo (journalist)\u00a0<a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"mailto:kgotsofalangm@caxton.co.za\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>kgotsofalangm@caxton.co.za<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Also follow us on:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/germistoncitynews\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210323\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Facebook.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GCNnews?lang=en\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210324\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Twitter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/germistoncitynews\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210325\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Instagram.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCblgxW6BRXTLGLQvpcumLqA\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210326\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/youtube.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"anchor_post\" href=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-210327 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/germistoncitynews.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2019\/07\/Newsletter.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"stream-item stream-item-below-post-content\">\n<div class='tenancy_slot tenancy_slot_1 jannah_ad' style='display: none;' data-query-id='096b27bfb315539fee8b7a1010116c9f'><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DA not pleased with the roll-out of Spatial Land Use Management (SPLUM) by-laws containing glaring legal issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":214088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Content provided","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8515,2],"tags":[28220,28219,5511,28291,27046],"class_list":["post-213569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-municipal-news","category-news-headlines","tag-financial-and-fiscal-commission-ffc","tag-south-african-council-for-planners-sacplan","tag-south-african-post-office","tag-spatial-land-use-management","tag-spatial-land-use-management-splum-by-laws"],"amp_enabled":true,"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Municipal"},"tag_labels":["Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC)","South African Council for Planners (SACPLAN)","South African Post Office","Spatial Land Use Management","Spatial Land Use Management (SPLUM) 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