[OSGeo Africa] Municipal boundary demarcation

Wed Jul 20 05:45:15 PDT 2016

Good afternoon,

I interviewed a Municipal Demarcation Board employee called Elisabeth (I have forgotten her surname) on 24 Jan 13, and received the following answers:

•        Demarcation boundaries follow cadastral boundaries, unless the boundary is through an area where cadastral boundaries are scarce, in which case some recognisable physical feature will be used.
•        Cadastral datasets from the Surveyors General are used as the source of cadastral boundaries

BUT

•        The Demarcation Board digitises the SG data (obviously this process introduces errors)
•        The SG data used may not be the latest data (this means that corrections and new consolidations will not be accounted for).

Legislation exists to avoid an owner of one land parcel having to pay rates to two municipalities. In cases where the municipal boundary divides one parcel into two municipalities, the onus is on the land owner to apply to have the municipal boundary changed, so that the whole parcel is situated in one municipality only.

Sorry, but I cannot provide you with the legislation on which the above is based.

Please also bear in mind that the 2016 boundaries come into effect after the upcoming election, and that there are significant changes in the data.

Regards,

Mike Caister

Spatial Database Manager
Survey Technician ST1397
Office of the Surveyor General: KwaZulu-Natal
300 Pietermaritz Street
PO Box 396
Pietermaritzburg
3200

Email:    Mike.Caister at drdlr.gov.za
Tel:      033 355 2929
Fax:      033 394 7610

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From: Africa [mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Peter Newmarch
Sent: 20 July 2016 13:47
To: 'Africa local chapter discussions' <africa at lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] Municipal boundary demarcation

Chris,

The demarcation data is fixed. Its Gazetted as a map and not by cadastral boundaries or features. The land might for rating purposes fall in JHB, but for approvel purposes (SPLUMA) wherever the development falls spatially in terms of the municipal demarcation data – then that is the municipality.

I recently saw a case where a parent property was in Municpality A, but the new sub was Municpality B – because of the mismatch between the data.

Municipal data is determined by people numbers, while the intention might be to follow certain cadastral lines, its unfortunately not Gazetted that way and so leaves no room for any interpretation whatsoever – its fixed in absolute terms.

I know of two cases where very large farms are split down the middle because of municipal demarcation lines – but remains one property. I have never checked if the farms themselves appear in both municipal rates rolls, but certainly they have ward councillors from different municipalities on the same land parcel.

If you want to rectify the situation, you have to apply to amend the demarcation limits of the city and follow that process.

Regards

Peter

From: Africa [mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Chris Kirchhoff
Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2016 9:12 AM
To: 'Africa local chapter discussions' <africa at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:africa at lists.osgeo.org>>
Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] Municipal boundary demarcation

Thanks Aslam,
I have downloaded the shape files from the Demarcation board website and the Government Gazette

The problem that arises is that the Demarcation board  Shape file Municipal  boundary line , the property boundary line based on the Surveyor General digital boundary data and the actual WGS 84 coordinates as defined on the approved Surveyor General diagram that define the property boundary are not consistent.

The Demarcation board  Shape file municipal  boundary line shows the Tshwane municipal boundary running inside a farm boundary by some 30m.

This farm is supposed to be inside Johannesburg municipality.

The Johannesburg municipality wishes to build a 30m wide road along the farm boundary but now sees that part of the road would fall inside Tshwane municipality according to the Demarcation board  Shape file municipal boundary line.

I would assume the obvious response  is that the Municipal boundary should be contiguous with property boundaries,  however I can find no legislation that clearly sates this ?

Would you have some thoughts on how to resolve  this ?

……………………………………...
Chris Kirchhoff
Professional Land Surveyor
Tel : 082-773 4868
chris at kirchhoffsurveyors.co.za<mailto:chris at kirchhoffsurveyors.co.za>
www.kirchhoffsurveyors.co.za<http://www.kirchhoffsurveyors.co.za/>

We believe good spatial information leads to superior planning, diminished project risks, improved feasibility assessments and efficient resource utilisation.

From: Africa [mailto:africa-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Aslam Parker
Sent: 20 July 2016 08:38 AM
To: Africa local chapter discussions <africa at lists.osgeo.org<mailto:africa at lists.osgeo.org>>
Subject: Re: [OSGeo Africa] Municipal boundary demarcation

Dear Colleagues

The Municipal Demarcation Board http://www.demarcation.org.za/  is the only authoritative source of Demarcation data in South Africa

The Board’s mandate derives from:
The Constitution Of The Republic Of South Africa, 1996 (Act No 108 Of 1996).
The Board is mandated in terms of section 155(3)(b) to determine municipal Boundaries independently.
Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act, 1998 (Act No 27 Of 1998)

The latest boundary data (shapefiles) can be downloaded from http://www.demarcation.org.za/index.php/downloads/boundary-data

We are also encouraged to carefully scrutinise the Section 21 of the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998 the Municipal Demarcation Board which graphically shows re-determined the municipal boundaries.  In most cases the boundary changes seems small and insignificant, but can have significant socio-political, as well as planning implications. http://www.demarcation.org.za/site/?page_id=14588
A Good example :
“  In terms of Section 21 of the Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998 the Municipal Demarcation Board has re-determined the municipal boundaries of Mnquma Local Municipality (EC122) and Mbhashe Local M unicipality (EC121) , by excluding the Administrative areas of Mhlahlana, Nkonkwana,KwaMente, and KwaNkanga from the municipal area of Mnquma Local Municipality (EC122), and by including them into the municipal area of Mbhashe Local M unicipality (EC121).” The example map can be accessed  at http://www.demarcation.org.za/index.php/municipal-boundaries/section-21-maps-and-notices/ec-sec21-dems/1104-dem4037-bpfc-sec21/file

Aslam Parker | Director: Geo-spatial Information and Professional Support |Chief Directorate: National Geo-spatial Information | Department of Rural Development and Land Reform | www.ngi.gov.za<http://www.ngi.gov.za/>| Cape Town|
Tel +27 21 658 4302| Fax +27 21 689 1351| Mobile 082 331 8501| aslam.parker at drdlr.gov.za<mailto:aslam.parker at drdlr.gov.za>

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