Rezoning of land in Stellenbosch angers ANC
|Published
The Stellenbosch municipal building with the madiba statue on the left. Picture: Ian Landsberg
THE ANC in the Western Cape is on a warpath after a former Capitec bigwig and a DA member reportedly tried to rezone prime agricultural land in Stellenbosch in an attempt to build expensive houses.
This stems from the Stellenbosch Municipality’s intention to adopt a Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) for the Adam Tas Corridor (ATC) precinct.
The ATC precinct is Stellenbosch’s emerging urban transformation
district and was identified as a catalytic project.
According to the municipality the vision for the precinct is to create an integrated urban development corridor that is “liveable, safe, resource-efficient, socially integrated, economically inclusive, and globally competitive, in which all citizens can actively participate”.
A former Capitec executive is funding this project, Weekend Argus was told.
A land use expert who wants to remain anonymous objected to the project, saying the correct protocol was not followed.
He drafted a letter to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Urban Development.
The department responded on March 25, saying: “At this stage, the department has not received an application/request for comments from the Stellenbosch Municipality regarding this inclusion process and, as such, it would be premature for this department to comment without formal request.”
On March 30, five days later, the municipality placed an advert in the local newspaper Eikestad, asking for public comment.
The municipality, in a separate statement, said it would host three open days to view the draft documents and discussion on findings with the consultants and municipal officials.
The first viewing was last week Wednesday, and the other two days will take place between June 1 and 8.
Mayor Gesie van Deventer said the land the complainant had taken issue with is not agricultural land.
“The spatial confederation of Stellenbosch will provide affordable housing for people who could never afford to stay in the heart of Stellenbosch. The ANC’s comment is ridiculous.”
In a separate matter, a group called Choisy-Le-Roi Owners took the municipality to court over the rezoning of land. The applicant is the owner of an erf at Technopark in Stellenbosch.
Technopark is an area that since 1996 has been specially zoned under the schemes of the municipality of Stellenbosch applicable from time to time for development and use as “a technology or science park”.
Apart from an hotel – the development of which was provided for in the original concept – there has been no residential use development in Technopark, the court said. “Residential use development is also not provided for in the pertinent zoning scheme provisions for the area.”
The anecdotal evidence, according to the court documents, is that the area has not been developed strictly in accordance with the original idea, with the result that Technopark manifests as a mixed-use office park.
One of the recent developments in Technopark, for example, has been to provide the headquarters for Capitec. The applicant’s property is still undeveloped and is used as a parking lot.
The applicant applied in 2017 for the rezoning of its property to allow for a mixed-use building development including a residential component.
The proposed development comprises of mixed uses on the ground floor and a number of duplex apartments on the two upper floors.
The ANC said it’s “extremely angered” by this. “The problem is that certain people believe they are untouchable,” the ANC’s Cameron Dugmore said.
“The DA generally and, in Stellenbosch in particular, have a shameful record of cutting corners and granting favours to friends and funders. There are very clear reasons why one cannot simply rezone agricultural land.”
Dugmore said they would call on the DA and members of the “Skelmbosch Mafia” to say how much money they had donated to the DA. The former Capitec bigwig also served on the DA commission with Ryan Coetzee and Tony Leon, whose recommendations led to the ousting of Mmusi Maimane, according to Dugmore. “The DA councillors who are aware of donations must revise themselves from any council discussions on this matter,” he said. The DA is, according to Dugmore, about preserving and protecting the privileges and wealth of the few. “Have you ever heard Le Roux, Coetzee or Leon condemning racism and landlessness of African and Coloured people in Stellenbosch.
