JULY 2020 ISSUE 1

ZIPEC IS FAST BECOMINGA SPECIALIST IN LANDAUDITS

ZIPEC EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR LAUNCHESWOMEN IN PLANNING SA(WIPSA)

MUNICIPAL RATESREBATES

IN TH IS ISSUE

The lack of prioritisation of waste managementservicesThe limited understanding of waste as a resourcethat has the potential to contribute to economicgrowth The limited resources (human, technical andfinancial, equipment and others) which impacts onthe integrated waste management servicesProcurement and financial processes delays as wellas a lack of proper implementation of Integratedwaste management plans and budget allocation.

Ziphelele Planning and Environmental Consultancy(ZiPEC) has recently completed the review and updateof the uMngeni Integrated Waste Management Plan2020. The municipal’s current IWMP is dated June 2011,which prompted the need for a reviewed IWMP, Councilapproval and adoption.

The development and review of Integrated WasteManagement Plans for municipalities has beensparked by numerous challenges relating to:

Continued on next page.

ZIPEC COMPLETES UMNGENIINTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENTPLAN (IWMP)

Ziphelele Planning and Environmental Consultancy Newsletter

GROUP AREAS ACT: 70YEARS LATER

PAGE 1

ZIPEC NOW DOES WASTERECYCLING PLANS

ZIPEC’S CAPABILITYPROFILE

OUR RECENT PROJECTS

JULY 2020 VOL . 1

In realising the need for IWMPs, the UnitedNations Environmental Programmeacknowledges that a plausible solution to wastemanagement would be an integrated approachwhich should include collective management ofall types of wastes and implementation of the3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) policies andstrategies.

The South African Constitution within the Bill ofRights ensures that everyone has the right to anenvironment that is not harmful to their healthand well-being.

Legislative and other measures should be usedto ensure that the environment is conservedand protected for future generations.Considering this, the development of IWMPs is arequirement for all government spheresresponsible for waste management in terms ofthe National Environmental Management: WasteAct (Act No. 59 of 2008) for government tometiculously plan and manage waste.

The guiding document for the development ofIWMPs provide a background for thecompilation of IWMPs and a basic description ofthe legal framework pertaining to IWMPdevelopment.

ZiPEC followed the legal framework process asthe primary methodology for the review andupdate of the uMngeni IWMP. The use of theDepartment of Environmental Affairs guidelinedocument paved the way in ensuring that theupdated IWMP is compliant.

ZIPEC COMPLETES UMNGENI INTEGRATED WASTE MANAGEMENTPLAN (IWMP)

Geographic area analysisDemographics (Population and DevelopmentProfiles) Assessment of Waste Quantitiesand Types based on the available dataAssessment of Current Domestic WasteGeneration Per Capita based on theavailable dataEstimating Future Waste Generation Ratesand QuantitiesAssessment of the Existing WasteManagement Systems: Waste Recycling,Treatment and DisposalStatus of waste collection services andcollection needsGap and Needs AssessmentFinancing of Waste ManagementDesired end stateAssessment of alternativesImplementation PlanCommunity Involvement and stakeholderparticipationIWMP Review, Monitoring and Approval

The approved uMngeni IWMP will beincorporated in the reviewed IntegratedDevelopment Plan. The review covered thefollowing key aspects:

ZiPEC is not new in undertaking environmentalmanagement municipal plans. In 2016, ZiPECalso developed the Okhahlamba IntegratedWaste Management Plan for council approval.The approval of these municipal plans provethat ZiPEC is a company that is able to planacross various sectors linking land use planningand environmental sustainability.

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JULY 2020 VOL . 1

the  status of  landownership within themunicipalities, whether the properties that the municipalityhas disposed of have been properly transferred to add value to the municipal valuation roll. 

Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937State Land Disposal Act 48 of 1961Constitution of the Republic of South Africa,1996 (Act no. 106) Local Government: Municipal Property RatesAct, 2004 (No. 6 of 2004) Local Government: Municipal Property RatesAmendment Act, 2014 (Act No. 29 of 2014).

In the past few months we have been fortunateenough to undertake Land Audits for the Umzumbeand Umdoni local municipalities - both locatedwithin the Ugu District Municipality of KwaZuluNatal.

The intention of the land audit was toestablish, amongst others; 

In order to effectively manage a municipal’sportfolio of its  landholdings, it is necessary for amunicipality to conduct a land audit. This enablesthe municipality to have a complete picture ofstate assets within its boundaries and to properlyconsider the full range of options to access landfor service delivery projects.  The land analysiswould promote  economic development andultimately enhance the capacity of the municipalarea to alleviate poverty, increase employmentopportunities as well as maximise theimplementation of development programmes.

Part of the methodology entailed the analysis ofapplicable laws in relation to land administration,management and the municipality's role,. This isimportant when undertaking any project withinthe  built environment  sector. What wasestablished is that the guiding legislation for landaudits is the following:

The use of such legislation allows forimplementation of the projects that are alignedwith the municipality’s Integrated DevelopmentPlans (IDP).

Stakeholder engagement is an important aspectof any project. Land audits require input

ZIPEC IS FAST BECOMING A SPECIALIST IN LAND AUDITS

from various key role players such as themunicipal and provincial and traditionalauthorities.

The use of the Geographic Information Systems(GIS) was pivotal in analysing various landparcels within the study area. GIS made it mucheasier to compile landowner information, sitesizes, zoning and land use data, as well assummarising the data to provide outcomes ofthe land audit. This allows the municipality tohave a clean and credible cadastral dataset.

Undertaking a Land Audit can be quite achallenge in terms of collecting the relevantinformation, particularly when  working in ruralareas due to spatialfragmentation.  This  requires credible GIS landcover information that could be overlaid withcadastral data to provide an overview oflandscape changes over a period of time. 

Both land audits resulted in an increase in thenumber of land parcels found within themunicipal boundaries. This is due to the  newproperties created as a result ofsubdivisions  that were not accounted for in themunicipal valuation roll and other municipaldata.  Once a land audit is done it is importantthat municipalities capture GIS data in real timeand update the data at least annually, in linewith the valuation roll updates.

Along with the GIS data, we had created aProperty Register/database which can be usedas a basis of planning strategic projects  suchas housing, commercial developments  andtourism.

PAGE 3

Promote gender mainstreaming in the planning and

development sector

Encourage women to choose careers related to

planning and development

Promote education and training within the planning

and development sector

Accept the centrality of women in society in general,

and in the built environment, in particular;

Promote gender issues at the forefront of the

planning and development sector;

Accept the need for cooperation between all

genders, races and classes in the planning and

development sector.

Mrs. Gugulethu Sithole-Ngobese, the Executive Director

of ZiPEC is the founder of Women in Planning South

Africa (WIPSA).

WiPSA is pioneered by three young aspiring women in

the field of Town Planning i.e. Mrs. Sithole-Ngobese, Ms.

Menelisi Mhlanga and Ms. Samke Mkhize. The

organisation aims to create and promote progressive

growth in an environment where there’s gender

imbalance in terms of professional growth and

advancement in all dimensions of the town planning

profession.

The objectives of the organisation are to:

The WIPSA organisation aims to:

ZIPEC EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR LAUNCHESWOMEN IN PLANNING SA(WIPSA)

WIPSA understands gender

mainstreaming as a public policy

concept of assessing the different

implications for people of different

genders of any planned policy

action, including legislation and

programmes, in all areas and levels.

In addition, the concept of gender

mainstreaming is intended to be

transformative, changing the very

definition and discourse of

development to include gender

equality as a means and an end.

It is through this concept, that WIPSA

intends to ensure that  young

planners, especially women are able

to influence public policy in South

Africa by “reimagining South African

cities and towns”.

WiPSA launched a virtual session on

the 18th June 2020, whereby the

launch discussed the organisation

and the future it envisions for the

planning industry.

To find out more, go to

www.wipsa.org.za

JULY 2020 VOL . 1

PAGE 4

THE GROUP AREAS ACT: 70 YEARS LATERJULY 2020 VOL . 1

PAGE 5

How, why and where many of us live was determined by the Group Areas Act, which was passed in

1950. The 7th of July 2020 marks seventy years since the Act was passed, and we still find ourselves

experiencing the legacy of this oppressive legislation.

Take a look at your neighbourhood; are most of your neighbours a part of your race group? Do you

only have one or two roads that allow you enter and exit the area? Do you have any rivers, large green

spaces, or highways that separate your neighbourhood from the next? If you answered yes to the

questions above, then you are living in a space that is marked by the remnants of the Group Areas

Act.

The Group Areas Act was a spatial planning tool used during the oppressive apartheid regime to

restrict people into designated residential areas for exclusive use by certain race groups; these areas

were to be known as “group areas”.

The Act was a cornerstone of the apartheid regime, as it reinforced the idea of separating people into

racial groups.

The Group Areas Act was not only a tool to restrict the movement of Black people, but also to ensure

that prime properties were allocated within the well developed areas, closest to the CBDs, reserved for

the white minority. The Black majority was relegated to overcrowded townships at the outskirts of the

urban fringe, with a significant number forcibly restricted to “homelands”, referred to as Bantustans.

The areas reserved for Black, Indian and Coloured communities lacked basic services such as street

lighting, tarred roads, electricity, adequate sanitation and running water.

Most of these areas, including the African homelands, usually one had one transport network in order

to monitor movement Apartheid-regime urban planners separated the group areas using barriers

such as highways, railways, rivers, mountains, and buffers such as green spaces and other

“undesirable” land uses such as cemeteries.

We can see from the map below that what is clear is the continued predominant separation of the

racial groups.It is also important to note that the central

business districts have diversified and there is

now more than one in most areas; but

generally, the white population are living

closer to these CBDs than any other racial

group. Whilst many, largely African people are

within the CBD itself, this trend has resulted in

white people leaving the city centre and

surrounds for gated estates and the

countryside.

Continued on next page.

Written by Mrs. Gugulethu Sithole-Ngobese and published in The Star, Cape Argus and DailyNews on 7 July 2020

JULY 2020 VOL . 1

PAGE 6

We need to start with education and training,

generally: we need to teach our youth the legacy of

oppressive legislation such as the Group Areas Act so

that we can incite passion about spatial planning

issues and have new perspectives enter our field.

Planners need to take the lead in land use planning,

and they need to influence the spatial transformation

agenda.

The current curriculum for planning students and

candidate planners needs to change; there needs to

be an emphasis on practical land use planning as

part of their training.

The state departments and their agencies responsible

for the planning profession (such as the SA Council

for Planners) need to play a more interventionist

approach that goes beyond populism, politics, or

platitudes in guiding spatial transformation.

interventionist, role in guiding economic development to

meet the needs of its citizens.

There are various economic and social changes that can

be made to ensure financial mobility and wealth

distribution, but spatial planning is the obvious one. If we

change how and where people live and work, the rest

follows.

So how do we change this?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Given our atrocious history, every person in South Africa

now deserves dignity. We can achieve this by ensuring

basic human rights are honoured.

We can do this through ensuring quality service delivery

to all, which can be achieved through a simple

“rectification” tool i.e. spatial transformation.

Spatial planning is not led by urban

planners, but by other professionals

in the built environment who are

responsible for the barriers. Roads,

service infrastructure and

conservation areas are determined in

silos before allowing proper land use

planning. As an example, poorly

located transport networks still

dissect areas rendering most urban

spaces inefficient and unworkable.   

Green spaces, such as passive open

spaces continue to act as buffers

which leads to a lack of integration –

sometimes deliberately.

Planners lack adequate training with

the curriculum in most planning

schools failing to deal with planning

issues at the coalface e.g. planning

schools rarely have work integrated

learning as part of the curriculum.  

There is a lack of political will to

undertake meaningful measures

which would see spatial

transformation or integration. This is

largely because economic separation

has now replaced racial separation

with the political elite preferring the

former.

The Group Areas Act was officially

repealed on 30 June 1991 by the

Abolition of Racially Based Land

Measures Act.

Given that over two decades has passed

since the repealing of the Group Areas

Act, why is there still such inequality

among the living conditions of the

races?

  After working in the planning sector for

11 years, I have witnessed the following:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Gated communities and golf estates is

one of the most prevalent examples.

South Africa is meant to be a

development state implying that the

state plays an active, even

NOTE FROM THEEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

"Women are the most vulnerable when it

comes to development, but men dominate

the sector, with little appreciation of what

the other half of the population's needs

really are."

Mrs. Gugulethu Sithole-Ngobese

The COVID-19 pandemic has had

a significant financial impact on

businesses and individuals and

will continue to do so for several

months to come. ZiPEC has

started an initiative to assist the

public with the applications for

reducing property rates, as per

the Local Government Municipal

Property Rates Act 6 of 2004.

ZiPEC offers a complete analytical

approach to rates reduction,

which include all the assessments,

layouts and motivations to submit

to the municipality. We help you

save on your monthly accounts,

with a NO SAVINGS, NO PAY

policy*.

*T&Cs apply.

MUNICIPALRATES REBATE

JULY 2020 VOL . 1

PAGE 7

Initiate and support the development of

recycling centres, and waste minimisation

clubs.

Collect information on recycling material types

and quantities for the regional Waste

Information System

Provide an efficient and affordable refuse

collection system with waste separation and

recycling options

There is a viable recycling industry in South Africa.

By law, municipalities have the responsibility of

waste collection and disposal.

In terms of the National Waste Management

Strategy (NWMS) it is envisaged that new laws will

be passed dealing with recycling and

environmental economics (e.g. incentives, taxes).

The National Environmental Management Act also

emphasises the need for development to be

sustainable and requires that ‘waste is avoided, or

where it cannot be altogether avoided, minimised

and reused or recycled where possible and

otherwise disposed of in a responsible manner.

Benefits of Waste Recycling Plans include:

ZiPEC NOW DOES WASTERECYCLING PLANS

NOTE FROM THEEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Statutory development applications

Permit applications e.g. Trade Schedule

Permits

Site layout/settlement planning

Development of Integrated Waste

Management Plans (IWMP)

Environmental Authorisations (EIA, BAR,

WULA etc)

Environmental Management Audits

Facilitation of environmental and

development project

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Solutions (data analysis, map production,

data capture, data compilation)

Housing Sector Plans

Land Audits

Review of Spatial Development Frameworks,

Integrated Development Plans, District

Growth and Development Plans

Project Planning, implementation and

monitoring

Project feasibility studies

Cemetery Master Plans

ZiPEC provides various professional services

that entail experts such as Development

Planners, Environmental Assessment

Practitioners (EAPs), Environmental Law

Specialists, Spatial Planners, GIS Specialists

and Project Managers.

WE DO THE FOLLOWING:

ZIPEC’S CAPABILITYPROFILE

JULY 2020 VOL . 1

PAGE 7

Umdoni Land Audit

Umzumbe Land Audit

Review of the Umngeni Integrated Waste

Management Plan

Development Outside the Scheme

Application for the Proposed development

of the Mkuze regional Airport on Portion 30

of  the Farm Quest No.13223, situated at

Mkuze Area.

Rezoning and Subdivision for the

Establishment of a Wastewater treatment

Plant Located in Richards Bay

Environmental Impact Assessment and

Water Use License Application for the

establishment of a wastewater treatment

plant Located in Richards Bay

Precinct Plan for Isandlwana Area

Development of the Alfred Duma Cemetery

Master Plan

Formulation of Guidelines for the

Demarcation Boundaries, Creation

and Characterisation of Isigodi                

                                      

We present here just a few examples of our

most recent projects, to show the diversity of

our clients and partners, and of the projects

we do with them;

OUR RECENTPROJECTS

CONTACT USEmail: admin@ziphelele.co.za

Website: www.ziphelele.co.za