Must do away with draconian planning regime

LAND is important to humankind. As people, we cultivate and harvest our livelihoods out of the soil of the land.

Acts such as the Group Areas Act of 1950 and the Natives Land Act of 1913 demonstrated the disheartening deeds of apartheid and the colonial past.

The acts made matters worse because they wreaked havoc, considering the fact that they bolstered a grip to stifle black land ownership.

Black people suddenly had to live and work in places defined and influenced by inhumane spatial planning and land-use laws premised on racial inequality, segregation and unsustainable settlement patterns.

The imperative for inclusivity and togetherness was thrown out of the window.

To restore the dignity of ordinary people in the country and also in enacting what is pronounced in the constitution, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform through the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013 provides for astute spatial planning and land management in South Africa.

The act provides a legislative framework for the government to transform the draconian and ill-conceived apartheid spatial planning regime to the one that reflects the fruits of our national suffrage and a desirable direction which we need to take as a nation.