But first on cadstre in South Africa (https://www.fig.net/cadastraltemplate/countrydata/za.htm). The first land surveyors came to the Cape in
approximately 1658, five years after Jan van Riebeek had established the first
European settlement at the Cape. The first cadastral survey was for a piece of
land along the banks of the Liesbeek River in order to transfer land to a
released servant of the Dutch East India Company. Until 1857, surveys were represented
in a graphical manner using natural features as boundaries. After 1857,
theodolites were used and the recording of numerical data on diagrams was
compulsory. The British occupation introduced legislation (Cradock
Proclamation) in 1813 that no sale of land would be recognized unless the land
had been properly surveyed and registered. In 1971 the Sectional Title Act made
it possible for the first time in South Africa for flats (apartments) and other
portions of buildings to be individually owned.
South Africa is fully covered by the National Control Survey
System (NCSS) which is of high accuracy and which is marked by a network of
Trigonometrical stations and Town Survey Marks. It is a legal requirement that
all cadastral surveys be connected to this system. As from 01-01-1999 the NCSS
has been based on the World Geographic System 1984 ellipsoid with the position
of the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Telescope as the origin of the system.
The primary function of the
Cadastral System in South Africa is to define (delineate and document)
ownership rights. Any land that has not been transferred from the state to a
juristic person remains the property of the state. Any juristic person that has
been granted freehold rights is free to trade (transfer at market value) that
immovable property. Accurate delineation of the ownership rights has enabled
the development of a Cadastral Information System, which forms the basis for
land valuation; land taxation, development planning, local authority
demarcation and land administration.
There is a Surveyor-General in Pretoria, Cape Town,
Bloemfontein and Pietermaritzburg. The 9 Provinces have been divided between
the 4 Surveyor-Generals. Each Surveyor-General is more or less autonomous
within his or her area of jurisdiction. The principal functions of each
Surveyor-General is to:
- Examine and approve diagrams, general plans and sectional title plans that are lodged for approval prior to them being registered in a Deeds Registry.
- Preserve and keep up to date all approved documents and records pertaining to cadastral surveys.
- Supply copies of documents kept in the office in hard copy or digital form.
- Provide advice and information pertaining to the cadastre.
There are diagrams used for registration
purposes and sectional plans showing the relative position of two or more
units within a sectional title scheme but it is the general plan that interests
us.
A general plan is a document
consisting of one or more sheets showing the relative position of two or more
pieces of land. It is compulsory to prepare a general plan for any subdivision
of land into ten or more pieces or when required in terms of any law, such as
township establishment or the amendment of an existing general plan. General
plans may comprise many sheets and depict a very large number of erven.
In the normal run of play, town planners in the strategic
branch of planning will not pay much attention to general plans. However, since
the subdivision of land has been meticulously recorded it does not only
describe land parcels but shows the history of growth and development over a
time period of more than two centuries.
The interest in general plans lies in the emerging structure
of settlement they describe. The map below shows how Tshwane developed from the
19th century to date through mapping the age of general plans.
The growth from the original core follows a very concentric
pattern. This is despite the strong physical barriers such as the Magaliesberg
and the two another parallel ranges present immediately north and south of
central Pretoria. The only exception to concentric growth is immediately to the
south where the Fountain Valley, Groenkloof Nature Reserve (the oldest
proclaimed nature reserve in South Africa - 1895) and the military bases of
Thabatswane are located. Secondly, general plans (subdivisions) had become
smaller over time and more so in the last few decades. This might be due to the
cost and risks over very large development and also due to development moving
into the zone of agricultural holding that was established around cities in the
earlier parts of the twentieth century. Thirdly, notwithstanding government
policy and development theorists being very vocal about densification and urban
growth edges, development has happily continued to spread outward.
By browsing the map, one can also see how extensively farms
were surveyed in the old Cape Province. This all happened in the 19th
century. Furthermore it is noticeable how many general plans was registered
since 1990 but most of them on the periphery of cities and towns. Also, since
1990 there was a proliferation of development in tribal areas but very few of
them linking with any major existing development or in anyway contributing to
rationalising South Africa’s spatial settlement structure. How ineffective or
how little this process in tribal areas contributed to structuring settlement
and development will be dealt with in a subsequent blog.
It is clear that there are much to be derived for the
urban planner and policy analyst from how the cadastre develops over time.
It is not only a reflection of development history but also shows how policy
intervention pans out and how it squares up against the forces of development.
