Five months after taking over the government, the City of Tshwane ANC/EFF/ActionSA coalition is yet to hold any sitting of the Municipal Appeals Tribunal (MAT) and the Strategic Land Development Tribunal (SLDT).
The last sittings of these key municipal structures were held during the DA’s Brink administration in August 2024.
The Municipal Appeals Tribunal is a committee appointed by the Executive Mayor in terms of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013 (SPLUMA). The MAT provides a platform for residents, businesses, or groups to appeal rejected applications for land development or land use to the Executive authority of the Municipality. Without this structure, residents do not have recourse when officials deny their applications to rezone their land, develop their area and make economic progress in their lives.
Even more pressing is that the Strategic Land Development Tribunal has not been convened for over six months. Communities that have submitted new or renewed applications for monitored access to their areas have not had these considered by the municipality. The use of monitored access is a key tool in the hands of communities to fight the increasing insecurity in their areas. The expiry of the current permits has rendered these monitored access structures illegal. For the new applications, communities are now frustrated with inaction in the face of rising crime.
Despite its own failures to convene these sittings to consider applications, the City has now served communities in areas like Eldoraigne, Centurion with illegal road closure notices; these monitored access structures have been a deterrent against crime in this community for more than 15 years. By doing this, the City is effectively fighting the crime fighters.
The DA in Tshwane supports community efforts to make economic progress and fight crime in their areas. DA Councilors will continue to advocate for residents’ rights to improve their living conditions.
The DA will continue to pressure the Mayor and the executive of Tshwane to ensure that these structures are established, the meetings are held, and residents’ voices are heard.