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Nature, Governance and Development Blog

• October 2024: Documents, issues and comments
  • The Eastern Link Road (ELR), now planned for construction segment by segment, is about to connect Paradyskloof suburb to Trumali Road. Presumably the other segment between Paradyskloof and the R44/Techno Park junction is also imminent. See September 2024 EIA (couched as a Draft Basic Assessment Report. The EIA comment deadline is at the end of October (DBAR) and the separate Water Use Licence Application which serves not before DEADP but the Department of Water and Sanitation (deadline November 2024)
• February 2024: Documents, issues and comments
  • Parking garage proposal in CBD (Eikestad Mall and municipal offices).
  • See FSM Comments on parking garage
  • This parking garage right in the centre of town would destroy the remaining historical character of the area. The "H" markings in the site plan show where nearby historical buildings are located, including Erfurt house, Stellenbosch Museum, the Victorian buildings along Andringa and Victoria Streets with the parking garage ("PPG") smack in the middle of all of them.
  • The parking garage is part of the massive overspending by Stellenbosch Municipality on roads and cars; see FSM October 2023 proof and FSM May 2023 comments on the CITP.
  • • Parking garage summary report, January 2024
    • Executive Summary, January 2024
    • Full Feasibility Study, November 2023
    • 2020 report on public parking
    • 2020 estimated table of costs
• May 2023 documents, issues and comments
  • MSDF Amendments and 2023/2024 Capital Expenditure Framework: Here are the FSM Comments and criticism on MSDF/CEF on the final instalment of the flurry of plans recently put out for public comment (see April 2023 schedule) was the March 2023 draft MSDF amendments and the associated Capital Expenditure Framework (CEF). Reminder: this is the final 2019 MSDF as approved in November of 2019. The March 2023 draft amendments to the MSDF are in other words incremental on the approved 2019 MSDF and do not replace it. Earlier there had been some minor September 2022 amendments with an unknown hidden motivation.
  • Blaauwklippen and the associated application for removal of title deed restrictions on Farm 527/3 and the earlier 2021 appeal process are also featured in the FSM Comments and criticism. See below within May 2023 on more recent news on Blaauwklippen.
  • Massive overspending on roads: here are the FSM Comments on the draft 2023 Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan and a short summary. Numbers below are taken from the 3-year capital budgets of Stellenbosch Municipality (MTREF) and Western Cape Government Vote 8 and Vote 10 (MTEF). Some key insights:
    1. The detailed list of projects fully quantify our conclusions.
    2. Of the joint budget for mobility and roads, 95 percent is to be spent on roads and road-related infrastructure, while the remaining 4 percent are split between public transport and NMT infrastructure and miscellaneous spending. The bias is even worse than anticipated in the March 2023 post and the exact opposite of what the transport legislation prescribes.
    3. While City of Cape Town and George are making good progress on their public transport systems, Stellenbosch has done everything possible to stop progress on its public transport, going so far as to obtain a Section 78 letter from the provincial Department of Transport (DTPW) purportedly relieving Stellenbosch of its legal obligations. As a result, Western Cape Government is allocating zero Rand to Stellenbosch for public transport purposes.
    4. Stellenbosch Municipality is intent on spending large amounts on new road projects from its "Capital Replacement Reserve" (CRR). In Appendix II of our FSM Comments and the two "strange" maps in Appendices III and IV, we show by example of the how the CITP and before it the various versions of the Roads Master Plan have given high priority to this irrational connection. One wonders whether it has anything to do with the current Brandwacht application for rezoning and the declared intentions of Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates to develop their land along the route.
    5. We repeat what we have been saying in the Mobility Forum for years: Stellenbosch infrastructure spending has no credibility unless and until the balance between road-related and public transport capital spending is 50:50 at least, not 95:5 as it has been for decades. The Mobility Forum has been quietly closed down since (extract from Rector-Mayor Forum minutes).
  • Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates (see separate webpage) wants to have title deed restrictions removed on land it bought under exactly those title deed conditions. The Mayco agenda of 19 April 2023 item has many appendices, one of which is the purported motivation for this step. The land in question is shown on this diagram: Farm 369/17 directly south of Paradyskloof and abutting the Eastern Link Road alignment, and Farm 527/3 south-east of Jamestown. The same motivation for untying (as again appears in the 24 April Council agenda) is not quite truthful, claiming that The cancellation of the notarial tie will patently not lead to the urban development of the subject properties. The farms will remain zoned for agricultural purposes and protected by the MSDF without mentioning that Blaauwklippen pushed quite hard for inclusion of all three land units (Farms 1457, 369/17, and 527/3) into the urban edge in 2019 which is the obvious first step towards development.
    As a reminder, here is page 150 of the 2019 MSDF showing the large number of applications for urban edge expansions Here is a map cutout with legend) from that MSDF Page 150, showing how all the Blaauwklippen properties were already the subject of urban edge expansion applications in the past. (See also separate Blaauwklippen theme page).
  • Grading of jeep tracks in Paradyskloof Nature Area: complaint to DEADP for using a grader far too large for the narrow tracks, causing much unnecessary damage and future increased erosion. Detailed photos of tracks appear and a track map can be found here.
• April 2023 documents, issues and comments
  • Grader widens tracks to 4 metres, destroys lots of vegetation, increases erosion:  See photos and details of trails. For the last week or so, a large grader has been wreaking havoc on jeep tracks, starting with tracks in the Schuilplaats Valley adjacent to the waterworks. A lot of indigenous vegetation has been destroyed illegally. The width of the tracks now often exceeds 4 metres, which is unnecessary and increases the risk of erosion. The Paradyskloof Nature Area Environmental Management Plan was written with detailed specifications on how to combat erosion, but it was just ignored.
    
  • IDP and budget: FSM comments on the Draft IDP and MTREF. Among the topics raised are the abuse of the sub judice rule and many details of the 3-year budget (MTREF). We pose yet again a whole set of questions about issues which were raised previously in 2022, and for years before that, about millions being wasted, court cases which are kept secret and unfair labour practices.
  • Climate change: Meanwhile, ocean temperatures have reached a record, the La Nina period is over, and there are strong indications of a big upcoming El Nino year with devastating consequences also for Southern Africa. In our FSM comments, we also highlight the neglect of climate change in municipal policy and actions. The little which appears in municipal documents relates exclusively to "adaptation" ie coping with the consequences of climate change, while little is said about the need for "mitigation" ie pro-active steps to prevent climate change from happening.
    
    
  • List of current deadlines (see March 2023 entries below for more detail)
    • 25 April: IDP: Comments on Draft 2023/24 IDP; send them to idp@stellenbosch.gov.za
    • 25 April: Budgets: Comments on the Medium-Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework; send to idp@stellenbosch.gov.za This is closely related to the 10-year Capital Expenditure Framework (CEF). This is also closely related to infrastructure spending including roadbuilding, the CITP etc.
      
    • 12 May: CITP: Comments on the draft CITP send to nina.otto@aecom.com
    • 15 May: Jamestown: Objections/comments re the Jamestown Phases 2 and 3 rezoning application for rezoning of Farm 527/7; send to both rudolf.schroder@zutari.com and to nolusindiso.momoti@stellenbosch.gov.za
      For your input to be taken into account, you must call it an objection and provide the information stated on the first two pages.
    • 22 May: Objections to property valuations; send objection form to elleniece.standaar@stellenbosch.gov.za
    • 22 May: Libertas: Comments/objections to rezoning application Farms 1040/RE, 1480/RE, 374/2, 371/2. The Libertas application concerns the 110 hectares immediately west of Die Boord and outside the urban edge but no doubt the intention is to modify the MSDF to suit the purpose. Send objection to info@firstplan.co.za ensure that your comments are entitled "Objection" and provide reasons. Not surprisingly, the Western Link Road and western extension of Van Rheede are used as a motivation.
      
    • 22 May: van der Stel: Objection to proposed long-term lease (effectively privatisation) of van der Stel sports grounds. This has serious implications for the entire central town structure. Send objections to municipal.manager@stellenbosch.gov.za
    • 30 May: MSDF: Comments on the Draft amendments to the MSDF; send to spatial.planning@stellenbosch.gov.za
    • ??? Capital Expenditure Framework: no deadline has as yet been set, so one must assume that comment must be submitted along with the MSDF.
    • ??? May: Rhenish complex: The proposals is to be advertised for comment soon
• March 2023 documents, issues and comments
  The Council agenda of 29 March 2023 contained a raft of new master plans. All are seemingly well coordinated. A first reading reveals nothing untoward, but a closer look shows that the strong pro-roads agenda which has characterised Stellenbosch Municipality since 2016 is being pushed hard. All page numbers below refer to those of the Council agenda pagination.
  
  
  • 2023 Draft IDP and Draft MSDF amendments
    • Draft 2023/24 IDP (9.5MB) council item and the small-print public notice including meeting schedules. Comments are to be submitted by Tuesday 25 April 16:30 to idp@stellenbosch.gov.za. While it would seem obvious enough, the public notice wants you to entitle your comments "Draft 1st Review of the 5th Generation 2022-2027 or Draft Budget 2023/24 - 2025/26"
    • Draft amendments to the MSDF (4.7MB) with the Council item and the public notice. Comments are to be submitted by 30 May to spatial.planning@stellenbosch.gov.za.
    • The 2021/22 Annual Report (11MB) also appears in the IDP public notice.
  • Budgets and financing
    • Capital Expenditure Framework body (19MB) (Draft Report Version 1.0 by Novus3 (Pty) Ltd and SDS Africa (Pty) Ltd) and its huge (51MB) CEF title pages and the Council agenda item
    • Medium-Term Revenue and Expenditure Framework (4.3MB) with the Council agenda item and all 2023/24 policies (8.6MB). Comments on the MTREF are to be submitted by Tuesday 25 April 16:30 to idp@stellenbosch.gov.za. The public notice wants you to entitle your comments "Draft 1st Review of the 5th Generation 2022-2027 or Draft Budget 2023/24 - 2025/26"
  • Draft Economic Development Strategy: See the Council agenda item, the public notice and the Draft Strategy itself.
    
    
  • The Plans: Roads will get 90 percent of investments; Public Transport will get 0.14 percent
    • This two-page extract from the CEF and this one show what the real intentions are.
    • Here is the draft CITP (23MB) with its associated Council agenda item and public notice. Comments are to be submitted until 12 May to nina.otto@aecom.com.
    • Start with Chapter 7 to rediscover all the recent developer's favourites such as the Eastern Link Road, the Western Bypass and Link, the various versions of the Roads Master Plan with all its irrational kinks and entirely rational focus on developer's needs. The Eastern Link Road is now high on the list of priorities, just in time for the most urgent development applications around it.
    • Here is a cartoon of the most important roads and development proposals in the southern part of Stellenbosch. "ELR" = "Eastern Link Road", "WB" = "Western Link Road", "JT" = "Jamestown new road network" (see Figure 7.4 of the draft CITP chapter 7) which is reproduced here. "BR" is the ongoing Brandwacht application for rezoning, "BK" shows all the land owned by Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates. "VR" is the planned extension to link van Rheede Road to the Eastern Link Road which will pour thousands of motor vehicles onto Noordwal in future. So says the Roads Master Plan. Read more detail on the ELR here.
    • Meanwhile a Provincial "Section 78(1)" Assessment Report with its Council agenda item confidently declares that Stellenbosch has no need for public transport and that it will be done "incrementally". At the current spending and commitment levels, Stellenbosch might have a working public transport system about 200 years from now.
    • The Capital Expenditure Framework (69MB) is supposed to provide "strategic planning" for the next 10 years. As shown in this annotated extract, it seems to be quite shambolic and outdated when it comes to actual projects. The extract shows, for example, how the ancient 2011 CITP is used, when in fact a new (and itself quite problematic) CITP has just been published for comment.
    • The Mobility Forum has been quietly cancelled, while a Planning and Development Forum can be attended only by invitation and is closed to public scrutiny.
  • Plans for development of the Rhenish complex This relates to the historical core of Stellenbosch from the Braak westwards. Here are the Draft plans (23MB) with the corresponding Council agenda item.
    
    
  • National Transport legislation: The national Department of Transport has just published the 2023-2028 National Land Transport Strategic Framework (NLTSF). The public has an opportunity until 2 April to submit comments to nltsf@dot.gov.za. This is a key document for future town structure and infrastructure in general. You may want to also refer to the National Land Transport Act of 2009 and the all-important Minimum Requirements 2016. For comparison, see the old 2017-2022 National Land Transport Strategic Framework (NLTSF). For some other transport-related documents see our Transport and traffic legislation and policy page.
• January 2023 documents, issues and comments
  • Blaauwklippen is in the news again: there is an application for development of the last of the erven next to La Clemence, erf 510/9. Here are the public notice in the Eikestadanuus, the web notice (page 2 is missing!) and the motivation by the developer. Blaauwklippen is notorious for the approval of the development on appeal by Blaauwklippen even while the DA was having meetings on the premises of Blaauwklippen; see the story in October 2021 entry below and the Blaauwklippen background information page.
• November 2023 documents, issues and comments
  • The Stellenbosch Municipality 2022 Alien Invasive Plants Management Plan (AIPMP) follows five years after the first 2017 AIPMP was approved by Council. Here is the Council Item of November 2022. These plans are crucial to ensuring that the war against alien invasives succeeds. While there has been some effort in the past two years by SM to address the problem, not nearly enough has been done. Among the municipal nature areas, Papegaaiberg Nature Reserve is currently in the worst shape, but all of the areas have to be treated. The Paradyskloof areas urgently need follow-up work.
• October 2022 documents, issues and comments
  • Roads Master Plan
  • Eastern Link Road
  • Brandwacht application for rezoning; see also detailed entry in the September 2022 blog entry below
• September 2022 documents, issues and comments
  • Brandwacht Land Development (Pty) Ltd has engaged planners TV3 to try yet again to have the remainder of Farm 1049 Brandwacht rezoned for full development. Here is the notice to interested and affected parties who have until 3 October 2022 to comment. This proposal once again resurrects the never-ending attempts for development of Farm 1049, even though this was turned down in the past, including the 2019 attempt to have Farm 1049 included into the urban edge. The site development plan makes provision for 243 new residential erven. The proposal is viable only if the Eastern Link Road is constructed, which was also attempted in 2018. This and the corresponding link road map by ICE date back to March 2018, more than four years ago. Here is the complete rezoning application (87 MB PDF file).
    
    
  • Amendment of the 2019 Municipal Spatial Development Framework: Strange "amendment" of the currently valid 2019 final MSDF as approved in November 2019. Here is the council resolution with new Tables 20 and 28 compared to the 2019 Table 20 and the 2019 Table 28.
    
    
  • Millions wasted in matters related to municipal nature areas
    • In the January 2022 comments and questions FSM asked about the millions wasted by Stellenbosch Municipality in connection with the municipal nature areas. This matter started in 2019 and is getting steadily worse. Some information can be found below in the May 2020 blog entry below. The wastage and mismanagement includes
      • understaffing in the nature management section (Section 2.2 of the FSM submission); see also the FSM Invasives Forum talk and the corresponding January 2022 blog entry,
      • termination of the 2019 NRM contract worth R14.426 million (section 2.3)
      • fruitless and wasteful expenditure of more than R300,000 in "biomass removal" (section 2.4) and
      • supply chain management misconduct with respect to logging operations (section 2.6).
      There was no reply. In the context of the 2022/23 IDP process, FSM then followed up in September 2022 and provided a detailed list of money wasted or expenditure unknown. This included
      • again, the termination of the R14.426 million grant from national government for alien clearing, money which was sorely needed in the nature areas,
      • a likely payout of more than R4.3 million to contractor Deon Garden and Construction whose alien clearing contractor had been terminated unlawfully in 2019 or 2020,
      • about 12 other contractors whose contracts were also unlawfully terminated by the municipality in 2019 or 202,
      • the costs of a three-year suspension of a municipal official on full pay and benefits without due process being completed,
      • the costs incurred in the associated long disciplinary process,
      • future costs to be incurred in the same case as the municipality refused to accept the outcomes of the disciplinary process.
    • The 22 September questions were asked orally at the IDP meeting of 22 September. The allegations were denied and the questions were dismissed. Only after another FSM follow-up on 29 September was a partial written reply received from the Municipal Manager. Of the matters listed above, this reply only tried to address issues around the CITP and the Deon Garden and construction court case.
    • As usual, the municipality denies that it terminated the R14.426 million NRM grant itself. As usual, it was claimed that court cases were sub judice and that therefore nothing would be said on the matter. By now, it is common knowledge that the sub judice rule is often used to conceal information, see for example the article by Pierre de Vos and advocate de Havilland as well as Corruption Watch.
• June 2022 documents, issues and comments
  • Adam Tas Corridor: Here are the FSM Comments on the ATC Local Spatial Development Framework. For more detail and context see the ATC entry on the mobility page.
• January 2022 documents, issues and comments
  • The Stellenbosch Invasive Species Forum was held on 19 January in the Stellenbosch town hall under the auspices of Invasives South Africa. This forum also serves as the public participation platform for the national Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). FSM had submitted to DFFE a formal Request for a Directive in March 2021; see the entry below. Here is the FSM public talk on FSM itself, some of the history and lessons learnt. The second part of the talk pertains to the lack of interest, meagure budget allocation and insufficient human resources allocated by Stellenbosch Municipality to managing its 3000 hectares of nature areas. There is also a facebook recording of the talks at the Invasive Species Forum. See also the collection of presentations and videos
    
  • Talks given at the 19 January Invasives Forum:
    Kay Montgomery (Invasives South Africa): National Invasive Alien Species Awareness and Advocacy Support Project
    Stiaan Kotze (DFFE): Compliance with national invasives species regulations
    Louise Stafford (GCTWF and The Nature Conservancy): The Greater Cape Town Water Fund
    Phindile Shangase (DFFE): Alien Invasive Species Permits
    Monique Ruthenberg (Cape Nature): Cape Nature Overview and Reportback
    Santie Gouws (FoB): Introducing Friends of the Bride
    Debbie Muir (DFFE): Herbicides, Government and People
    Hans Eggers (FSM): Duty of Care in Stellenbosch Municipal Areas
    Ernst Gouws (STF): Introducing Stellenbosch Trail Fund
    Colin Sharp (DFFE): Working for Water Reportback
    Francois Roets (Stellenbosch University): Invasive Shot Hole Borer Beetle
    
  • 2022 IDP Process: Here are the FSM comments and questions setting out some of the multiple unresolved issues.
    
• November 2021 documents, issues, comments
  • "Biomass removal": A huge 25-ton excavator and truck have been busy in the area below the clubhouse for six weeks, creating havoc, flattening and compacting the soil, digging out tree stumps, destroying the fynbos (and weeds) which are emerging after the area had been logged, and threatening the stands of Red Data species xiphotheca lanceolata which occur in the area. The whole purpose seems to be so-called "biomass removal" of the dead branches and slash left from the logging. The excavator and truck are not suited for the job at all; a simple chipper could have carried out the same task much faster and at far lower cost. This will be followed up.
  • The COP26 Glasgow Climate Change negotiations generate more hot air, conflict and many promises. Not nearly sufficient measures are approved to stem the global temperature rise.
• October 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • With regard to the Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates appeal (see the July 2021 and earlier entries below), a 17 October 2021 story in the Sunday Times (see also page 2, the pdf file and the original link) states that

    The DA mayor of Stellenbosch approved [the BAE appeal] just weeks after the farm hosted and bankrolled two events for the political party.

    Four days later, on 21 October 2021, the local Stellenbosch newspaper Eikestadnuus quoted extensively from the Jamestown Erfenis objections to the development and its approval. While the article itself makes no reference to the alleged hosting of the Democratic Alliance by Blaauwklippen estate, the municipal spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar is quoted in the Eikestadnuus article as stating that

    In die belang van deursigtigheid is die beslissingsbriewe vir die publiek oop en op die munisipale webwerf beskikbaar. Dit hou geensins verband met partypolitieke-aktiwiteite nie. Enige voorstelle van partydige inmenging is 'n lasterlike, heeltemal ongegronde aanval op die integriteit van die burgemeester.

    which translates as

    In the interest of transparency, the decision letters are open to the public and available on the municipal website. It [the appeal decision?] is in no way connected with party-political activities. Any suggestions of party interference is a libellous, completely unfounded attack on the integrity of the mayor.

  • Logging in Paradyskloof Plantation When a high wind blew over dozens of pines in the Paradyskloof plantation in October 2020, these were quickly removed. There seems to have been a simple FQ contract in place which covers such smaller tasks. In the four months October 2020 to March 2021, the logging just continued, however, leading to questions whether this was all done in accordance with municipal rules ("Supply Chain Management", SCM). These written questions, asked via the Ward 21 Committee, are based on the fact that all work done for more than R200,000 must follow a full tender process as specified by the municipality's SCM Policy. It took a full three months to obtain this answer and the reasons given do not look convincing.
• September 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • 20 September: Extensive comments, maps and history of mountain bike trails
  • 4 September: FSM Special Hack, work on hakea stands upmountain from the waterfalls; one large black wattle; difficult terrain. As usual, it takes longer than anticipated.
• August 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • 28 August: magnificent snowfall on the Western Cape mountain ranges: Pieke and First Ridge Peak and Haelkop as viewed from Stellenbosch Mountain:
    
• July 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • Regarding the Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates application to develop parts of the Jamestown "tuin erven" (see the entries below for May 2021 and January 2021):
    The appeal decision was signed on 13 July 2021 and communicated to FSM and Jamestown Erfenis on 14 July. The decision upheld the BAE appeal and revoked the decision by the Municipal Planning Tribunal and simultaneously overruled the determination of the municipal Department of Planning. The "reasons" given follow closely those submitted by BAE's legal team; they can be found on "Page 5 of 6" (page 6 of the PDF document) of said appeal decision. The last reason provided is an entirely empty promise, which no doubt will be tested and broken in the near future:
    Reason 8: "The decision will not create a precedent as every application has to be judged on its own merits"
    If in the view of the mayor the present application has really been "judged on its own merits", the mayor is thereby implying that neither the municipal Department of Planning nor the Municipal Planning Tribunal "judged the application on its own merits" and that the Mayor understands "merits" better than the collected internal experts and the independent external professionals appointed to the MPT precisely to adjudicate such matters. No doubt the next series of Jamestown and other development applications "merits" will be "judged" in a similar way. This appeal decision has created a precedent. With the development approved on dubious "merits", Jamestown stands to lose its last chance of maintaining its character and return the tuin erwe to their agricultural purposes. The continuing process of creating gated estates for the rich will accelerate, while the poorer residents will eventually have to move out.
    
    
  • A long-running saga regarding hazardous waste along the Schuilplaats River is close to being resolved. In the course of construction of the road link between Schuilplaats suburb and Trumali Road, a significant dump of old waste was discovered. More than 322 tons of ground was excavated under the supervision of an environmental control officer and in cooperation with the municipal department of solid waste disposal. The analysis of the waste did show elevated levels of heavy metals and organic molecules, but those levels did not exceed the thresholds for the waste to fall into one of the more hazardous classes within the Waste Management Act. The reports were kindly provided; have a look at the monthly summary report, the July 2020 closeout report memorandum by the municipal environmental coordinator and especially the photographs of the digging. The test report on chemical composition provides a quantitative assessment of individual chemical elements and molecules compared to the lowest "Level of Detection" (LOD).
    The corresponding agenda item in the Council agenda of 25 November 2020 is not quite accurate, but it does emphasise that there are historical dumps in Stellenbosch which may still be discovered and be dangerous. We do not have enough information to assess the impact of the discovered waste on the ecological state of the lower Schuilplaats stream.
• June 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • As already highlighted in April 2021, Council approved a so-called Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan (CITP) "Update" along with releasing for public comment a draft Roads Master Plan as well as a NMT Master Plan. The NMT Master Plan is fine but the spending amounts are negligible compared to the proposed spending on roads and parking. The so-called 2021 Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan "Update" is, however, a major scandal in several ways. The FSM Comments will be supplemented later with some relevant background material. The draft Roads Master Plan contains up to 84 projects which would cost billions, while the real needs of public transport receive almost no funding.
• May 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • The Jamestown "tuin erwe" development application launched by Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates (BAE) in 2019 is in the news again. For earlier documents see the Blaauwklippen main page as well as entries under January 2021,  June 2019 below. After BAE appealed a refusal of their application, an oral hearing was held in the Mayor's chambers on 27 May 2021. We are currently awaiting the outcome of that appeal.
• April 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • The Council agenda for 28 April 2021 suddenly contained a whole raft of road, traffic and transport related plans. Some, like the "Draft" Roads Master Plan had been finalised already in August 2019 but were never made public. On the other hand, the Draft "Update" of Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan of June 2020 is anything but an "update" and nothing like "comprehensive" or "integrated". The only plan with some standing is the Draft NMT Master Plan of December 2020, which however concerns itself chiefly with cycle and walking routes in Stellenbosch town centre. The budget is miniscule. Also in the April Council agenda was the Final Parking By-Law, which relates to details of parking management rather than planning.
  • Also of interest are the Draft Poster By-Law and the Draft Roads and Streets By-Law which deals with the technicalities of local road use.
• March 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • On 18 March, FSM submitted a formal Request for a Directive to the national Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF). This follows the request both to DEFF and to Stellenbosch Municipality for more information on the sudden and unexplained termination of a DEFF-funded alien clearing contract of R14.26 million in October 2019. Since then, very little alien clearing has been happening in the municipal nature areas, with dire long-term consequences.
• January 2021 documents, issues and comments
  • Jamestown "tuin erwe" development application launched by Blaauwklippen Agricultural Estates (BAE)
• August 2020 Documents, issues and comments
  • FSM pays tribute to Dr Guy Preston who has played a pivotal role in making the Working for Water programme the model to be emulated by the world. Working for Water was followed by many other programmes and is a shining example of what can be achieved by government in both job creation and caring for the environment.
• July 2020 Documents, issues and comments
  • The National Council of Provinces of South Africa is about to consider amendments to the important NEMA-related acts as well as the National Forests Act. The provincial parliament of the Western Cape had earlier issued a request for comments (here is the English version and the Afrikaans version). Here are the FSM comments and criticisms on the proposed amendments. We criticise the blurring of the boundaries between state powers and those of commercial entities such as environmental assessment practitioners (EAPs). We show that the relevant proposed amendment may be unlawful and even unconstitutional. We also emphasise the difference between the goal of eradication and the process of control with respect to invasive alien plants. The intent to make municipal councils appeal authorities for environmental directives is also a bad idea. Other amendments are in general sensible and are supported.
  • Here are the links to the underlying amendment proposals: NEMLA bill of amendments to the NEMA-related acts,   NFA bill of amendments to the National Forests Act, and the current versions of these acts, as previously amended: National Forests Act,   National Environmental Management Act (NEMA),   NEMA Amendment 2008,   Air Quality Act,   Biodiversity Act,   Coastal Management Act,   Protected Areas Act,   Waste Act.
• June 2020 Documents, issues and comments
  • South Africa is a world leader in the science of biological invasions. This is exemplified by a recent volume in Springer Series of Invasion Ecology entitled Biological Invasions in South Africa. The book is Open Access and can therefore be downloaded for free at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32394-3.
  • Equally worthwhile is the CREW Newsletter May 2020 published by the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers, a volunteer group working under Ismail Ebrahim of SANBI. The newsletter is a showcase of wonderful work done by ordinary people. If you are scientifically minded and enjoy a slow but intense walk through the fynbos, please join CREW. There is a local CREW group in Somerset West, so please enquire with FSM if you want to join.
• May 2020 Documents, issues and comments
  • The May 2020 Final IDP and the May 2020 Final MTREF show no signs of the NRM contract. There appears to be no provision for alien clearing or any other management of invasive plants in the municipal documents, even while the municipality is required by the Biodiversity Act to carry out the clearing.
  • Here are the FSM Comments on the Draft IDP as well as the Comments on the MTREF budget. The main issue is the apparent massive underspending on Stellenbosch nature areas even while millions of Rands in grant money has been available. While the two FSM comments are very similar, the IDP comments highlight the omission of an important section on public transport which had been part of the 2019 IDP and has now been removed.
  • Separately, the FSM comments highlight the new situation created by the new era of economic recession, perhaps depression. The current budget and IDP do not take proper account of this and will need drastic revision. This is made clear enough by the MFMA circular issued in December by the national treasury. Cost containment and a back to basics approach are now official policy; no more "nice to have" spending. Correspondingly, the Council item introducing the budgets makes clear that it is no longer business as usual. There is no more money for luxury spending on big road and parking projects.
• April 2020 Documents, issues and comments
  • The Draft 2020 IDP (Version 9) as well as the associated 3-year budget (MTREF) and the 10-year Capital Expenditure Framework (CEF) has been published; they are open for comment. The original deadline for comment has been extended to 8 May. Send comments to idp@stellenbosch.gov.za regarding the IDP and budgets, and to finance.department@stellenbosch.gov.za for purely budgetary matters. FSM will be posting comments here soon.
  • The draft MTREF should be closely compared to the August 2019 Adjustments Budget to see what has changed.
  • Separately, you should also take a look at the 2018/19 Annual Report and the MPAC oversight report.
• November 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • Retrospective Impact Assessment: Erf 1314 (Dylan Lewis): This pertains to the second-last of the smallholdings which abut the Paradyskloof Nature Reserve; the last one (erf 1315) is also relevant. DEADP in March issued a directive requiring that the substantial alterations in and around the Paradyskloof River were illegal and had to be subject to a so-called Section 24G rectification, because these alterations were illegal. The Impact Assessment (zipfile) is open for public comment until 9 December 2019. Send comments to info@cornerstoneenviro.co.za
  • The MSDF has finally been completed. After changing the revised Draft MSDF at the last minute at the meeting of 2 August 2019, Council on 11 November approved the corresponding Urban Edge Map for Stellenbosch, appearing as Figure 28 of the complete Final 2019 MSDF. At issue here and in August was the exclusion of Brandwacht Farm 1049 remainder as well as Erf 1049/3 from the Urban Edge. Also an error in Farm 81/33 on the northern extension was corrected. The full council item tells the story. Therefore, six months after the due date in May 2019, we now have a fully approved MSDF and Urban Edge. This Urban Edge Map supercedes all previous versions.
  • Meanwhile, the full council agenda reveals again the havoc caused by the ill-advised and ultra vires actions of the 6 April 2017 Letter by DTPW. As a condition for approval of the proposed Farm 372 (Paradyskloof Rd) developments, DTPW laid down the precondition that 6.5 The construction of the development may only commence once the extension of Schuilplaats Road has been constructed up to Trumali Road and the R44/Paradyskloof Road intersection upgraded. This led to a court case between La Concorde (KWV) and the municipality and recently culminated in the threat to cancel the lease altogether. A settlement has now been reached.
• October 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • Transcripts and meeting minutes of the Mobility Forum have been uploaded
  • The 2018 National Biodiversity Assessment has been released. Almost half of all South Africa's 1021 ecosystem types are threatened with ecological collapse. One in seven of the 23,312 indigenous species that were assessed are considered threatened with extinction. See the press release headlines and actions needed.
• September 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • Just released: the IPCC Special Report and the accompanying press release on the oceans and the "cryosphere" (the frozen parts of the earth system). The report affirms previous conclusions; quote: We will only be able to keep global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels if we effect unprecedented transitions in all aspects of society, including energy, land and ecosystems, urban and infrastructure as well as industry.
  • The most recent climate models now indicate that the earth is warming more quickly than previously estimated and could see the global average temperature rise by 7 degrees rather than just 5 by 2100. See the French CNRM press release.
  • Accelerating climate changes is the topic of the WMO press release. The synthesis report documents greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, shrinking ice, the state of the arctic and antarctic regions, ocean heat and acidity, extreme events and wildfires. Meanwhile, provincial and local authorities pay lip service but act as if there is no tomorrow. More material appears on this website appears under the Climate and Environment links.
• August 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • 27 August 2019: R44 upgrade proposals: The appeals lodged against the Environmental Authorisation of 29 March 2018 have been largely dismissed. Here is the complete letter from DEADP to DTPW. Voluminous explanations made in Reasons for Decision. Some changes to the major intersections are made; see the Annexures on the last five pages. The issues in the Argus article are but part of a larger picture. Dig into the background material as appears here.
  • Compare the March 2019 IDP to the May 2019 IDP to the Draft Amended IDP. The latter is an improvement in that it includes parts of the new (dfraf) MSDF in a new Chapter 4. Unfortunately, the outdated and wrong sections 7.3.1 and 7.3.2 are still in the amended version, as are the fallacious budget items prioritising roads and even the Roads Master Plan over the mandatory Comprehensive Integrated Transport Plan. Here are the FSM Comments.
  • Where is the Final MSDF? Despite three versions of a MSDF having been published, and despite the legal requirement that a new SDF must be approved in conjunction with the IDP, we have yet to see an agenda item and approval of a final 2019 version. This presumably indicates that the same conflicts which have been playing out throughout (with numerous applications by aspirant developers of their favourite land for inclusion into the Urban Edge) are still in play. Here are Version 1 signed February 2019, Version 2, made public in March 2019, and Version 3, signed June 2019. For completeness, here is the 2018 Version.
• July 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • Record temperatures are being reached across France, the Benelux countries and Germany. It is time to do something about climate change rather than complain.
• June 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • Eastern Link Road is in the news again. The recent article in Eikestadnuus reveals yet again the 20th century mindset which is still dominating the public discourse and management decisions. We will deal with the misconceptions and the mindset in due course. They are wrong. It takes only a glance at the transport legislation and the MSDF and CITP itself to see that they are wrong. It is also not enough to make patronising statements about NMT while pushing road building which deprive NMT of decades-long infrastructure investment and sabotage progress towards sustainability.
  • Continue by reading the summary which sketches the current situation with respect to the Eastern Link Road and urban edge extension.
  • Despite explicit denial on page 165 of the revised draft MSDF (see below) there is now a concrete Blaauwklippen development proposal for the "tuinerwe" in Jamestown.
  • The agenda of the Council meeting of 12 June 2019 contains a Revised Draft MSDF; here is the portrait version and the corresponding agenda item. The revision differs substantially from the draft MSDF published for comment in March 2019 (see copy below); for example the draft urban edge has been changed in several places. This means that there will have to be another public participation process ending sometime in August. See also the April minutes of the Intergovernmental Steering Committee which of course do not take into account the many development proposals and submissions contained in the Revised Draft MSDF but make clear that the changes cannot merely be promulgated.
  • There are many important additions; see for example Section 6.9.1 on the Adam Tas Corridor, 6.9.2 on Klapmuts, part of the Capital Expenditure Framework in Section 7 and Appendix .
  • Of particular interest are the extensive public comments summarised in part in Appendix B. Pay particular attention to the map on Page 145 on the various issues around the urban edge, the Housing Pipeline on page 184 etc.
• May 2019 Documents, issues and comments
  • Start with the summary which sketches the current situation with respect to the Eastern Link Road and urban edge extension.
  • Hier is 'n ooreenkomstige artikel in die Eikestadnuus van 20 Mei 2019.
  • Then look at the quick summary of the three recent FSM submissions. Specific topics are indexed below. It would help to keep the draft MSDF close at hand.
  • Here are the full FSM Comments of 30 April 2019 on the draft IDP, the FSM Addendum of 2 May 2019 on the draft IDP and the Eastern Link Road, and the FSM Comments of 8 May 2019 on the draft 2019 MSDF, including a section on the Stellenbosch Town Framework map and in particular the Urban Edge and its proposed Brandwacht/Waterworks extension.   
  • Topic: Eastern Link Road
  • Topic: proposed Urban Edge extension Paradyskloof waterworks
  • Topic: Brandwacht Farm 1049 remainder
  • Topic: Farm 372 Welgegund development proposal