Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Success: Wonderfontein development stopped

The Wonderfontein development, which was to take place between Sasolburg and Vanderbijlpark, has now been officially stopped. The Metsimaholo Local Municipality confirmed this news in a letter to AfriForum. This follows after AfriForum brought the Metsimaholo Municipality and the Department of Human Settlements before the court over this development that took place illegally.

This letter also contained a letter from the Department of Human Settlements in which the municipality is ordered to stop the development immediately until outstanding compliance measures, as required by the tribunal, are complied with. The department also says that the work that is now taking place there aims to secure the area.

According to Jaco Grobbelaar, AfriForum’s Regional Head for the Central Region, AfriForum is happy about the victory which is not only in favour of the community but also the environment. “We believed from the beginning that if the municipality met the necessary requirements it would benefit the community, but they are not prepared to meet the compliance requirements and therefore we stepped in to stop this development. The development would have had a huge negative impact on the environment as well as the safety of the community. I am glad we were able to prevent this and will intervene again in the future if the municipality decides to start developing recklessly.”

AfriForum and other role players from the community have been opposing this illegal development since August last year and, despite poor communication from the municipality, managed to stop the development.

This development, which would have been undertaken in extensions 74, 75, 76, 77, 78 and 79, is part of the Sasolburg town planning scheme which was approved on 17 October 2019 by the Metsimaholo town planning tribunal.

Some of the requirements that had to be met include:

consolidation of plots as set out by the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013;
renovation of the road network and infrastructure as detailed in the traffic impact study;
appointment of an independent contractor to carry out a complete infrastructure assessment;
design and build a new sewage plant to provide sufficient sewage for the development;
building and designing adequate storm water systems; and
submission of preliminary design plans of the houses to be built in the town development area (these plans must be submitted within six months of the approval of the development).

According to section 43 (2) of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013, the municipality had five years from the approval of the development to meet the necessary requirements. “Despite this period, the municipality did not meet the necessary requirement and continued with the development. That is why AfriForum was forced to approach the court to stop the development,” concludes Grobbelaar.