Spatial planning interventions in Ingonyama Trust Board areas : a case study of the Umnini Trust Traditional authority area, located in eThekweni Metropolitan Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

Municipal planning, particularly spatial planning at municipal level is the requirement prescribed in terms of various legislation which inter alia includes: the Constitution of the Republic South Africa (Act No. 108 of 1996); the Local Government : Municipal Systems Act 32 of 2000 (MSA), the Spatial and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) 16 of 2013. Spatial Planning is supposed to assist in guiding, regulating and management of land for the benefit of the society in general. However, spatial planning or interventions in KwaZulu-Natal have not been easy to implement in areas that fall under the jurisdiction of Ingonyama Trust (ITB) and Traditional Councils (TC’s) because in effect a two tier system of land governance exists in these areas. It is also equally important to examine aspects which include: the role played by key stakeholders during preparation and implementation of the LADP; the extent to which such stakeholders may have been consulted and the institutional capacity of these stakeholders to implement the LADP. The main aim of the dissertation is to examine the extent to which spatial planning interventions in the form Local Area Development Plan (LADP) has been able to guide development in Traditional Authority or councils areas situated within the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal Province by using the case study of uMnini Trust. The theoretical/conceptual framework used to guide the study took the form of interrogation of the collaborative planning or Communicative, Power and Discourse Theories as well the ‘Ladder of Participation’ as a lens through which to evaluate current spatial interventions in ITB areas. Both the theories and approaches were used purposefully to guide the research, to frame the questions, to critically evaluate the readings, to analyse contemporary practice and to review the research findings. Furthermore, the international, African and South African s precedents and well as local case study of uMnini were interrogated to guide the study and compare contemporary South African practice with examples from other countries. The study used a qualitative research methodology which included inter alia face to face interviews, observations, photographic techniques, voice recording and documentation and textual analysis. The study revealed that the spatial planning was unable to guide development in traditional areas and these being attributable to among other things such as: the roles and responsibilities of Traditional Councils were not clearly defined; a lack of capacity among some key role players particularly the Traditional Councils who lacked skills to comprehend spatial plans and weak participation or proper consultation with key stakeholders during formulation of such plans, resulting in failure to take ownership of the plans. The study also revealed that should the aforementioned challenges be overcome there could have be great prospect the Traditional Council and the municipality could work collaboratively in addressing future spatial plans, particularly with potential future legislation defining the roles and responsibilities. It is anticipated that this research will add to the knowledge of planning and development challenges that need to be confronted when implementing land use management tools in ITB areas located in metropolitan municipalities and other areas.