Question NW1795 to the Minister of Public Works andInfrastructure
20 August 2020 - NW1795
Graham, Ms SJ to ask the Minister of Public Works andInfrastructure
Whether,with reference to there solution by the Cabinet in October 2019 that 14000 hectares could be released for human settlement development,her department has taken any steps to release any of the identified land; if not, why not; if so, (a) which exact pockets of land were transferred in each municipality and(b)what are the time frames for the release of all 14000 hectares?
Reply:
The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:
The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has approved a total of 14 land parcels measuring 1004.0186 hectares to be released for human settlements purposes.
a) The land transfer is at various stages. Currently,no land transfers have taken place due to requirement of legislation that National Treasury endorsement must be obtained on properties that are transferred below market value. In this instance, two land parcels out of the fourteen land parcels arewiththeNationalTreasuryforconsiderationwhilstthe market valuation offive land parcels have been approved by the Land Affairs Board and will be submitted to National Treasury.
The DPWI has informed me that valuation of the seven parcels of land will be considered by the Land Affairs Board and submitted to National Treasury before the end of August.
b) The Department has prioritised the release of 47 land parcels measuring 1416.8195 hectares within this financial year. The remaining land parcels will be prioritised for release in 2021-22 financial year pending receiving formal requests with supporting documentation,includingdevelopmentplans,whichwillprovideanindicationofexact extent of land to be released. DPWI will process these requests subject toavailability of the identified properties and completion of feasibilityinvestigations.
The delay in transfers is caused by the requirement of National Treasury for market value. To speed up the process, DPWI has requested that National Treasury consider municipal value instead of market value. DPWI cannot skip these processes of the Land Affairs Board and the National Treasury as it is required by legislation.