Glensburg Town Planners
Glensburg Town Planners
Glensburg Town Planners
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35 Fricker Road
Illovo, Sandton 2196
Johannesburg, South Africa
Get in Touch
planning@glensburg.co.za
Ph: +27 10 442 5522

Where We Work

Land use applications prepared and defended in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Midvaal, Mogale City, Cape Town, eThekwini and Mahikeng — each under its own by-law and scheme.
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Municipal Planning Jurisdictions

One Act, Eight Rulebooks

The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act applies across the country, but it leaves the detail to each municipality. Every one of the eight we work in has adopted its own planning by-law and its own single land use scheme — so the names of the zones, what each permits, how an application is advertised, how long the municipality has to decide and who decides it all change at the municipal boundary. In the Western Cape, a provincial planning Act adds a further layer. The rulebooks also move. Tshwane adopted a new land use scheme in 2024, Johannesburg amended its planning by-law the same year, and Cape Town’s latest amendment took effect in October 2025. A zoning certificate can still describe a property’s rights under a scheme that no longer applies. Knowing which framework governs a site, and which version, is where applications are won or lost.

How We Practise

We work to the by-law and scheme in force on the day — not the one we know best, and not last year's version. Every instruction starts by confirming which framework governs the site, and which amendment.

Where We Act

Four Provinces, One Team

One team works across all eight municipalities from our office in Illovo, Sandton. Each covers more ground than its name suggests; the main towns are listed under each.

Gauteng

Johannesburg

City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality

Sandton, Randburg, Midrand, Fourways, Roodepoort

Gauteng

Ekurhuleni

City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Kempton Park, Boksburg, Benoni, Germiston, Edenvale

Gauteng

Tshwane

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

Pretoria, Centurion, Pretoria East

Gauteng

Midvaal

Midvaal Local Municipality

Meyerton, Walkerville, Henley on Klip

Gauteng

Mogale City

Mogale City Local Municipality

Krugersdorp, Muldersdrift, Magaliesburg

Western Cape

Cape Town

City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality

City Bowl, Bellville, Durbanville

KwaZulu-Natal

eThekwini

eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality

Durban, Umhlanga, Pinetown

North West

Mahikeng

Mahikeng Local Municipality

Mahikeng, Mmabatho

The Instruments in Force

What Each Municipality Runs On

The planning by-law and land use scheme in force in each of the eight, and one thing worth knowing about each. We confirm them at the start of every instruction, because they change.

Johannesburg

Gauteng
By-law
City of Johannesburg Municipal Planning By-law, 2016, as amended in 2024
Scheme
City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018
Worth knowing
The by-law prescribes decision periods after the administrative phase — 90 days for a rezoning, 60 for a consent use, 30 for a building line relaxation.
Johannesburg

Tshwane

Gauteng
By-law
City of Tshwane Land Use Management By-law, 2016, as amended in 2024
Scheme
Tshwane Land Use Scheme, 2024
Worth knowing
The 2024 scheme replaced the Tshwane Town-planning Scheme, 2008, so a zoning certificate issued before it may describe rights under a scheme no longer in force.
Tshwane

Ekurhuleni

Gauteng
By-law
City of Ekurhuleni Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2019
Scheme
City of Ekurhuleni Land Use Scheme, 2021
Worth knowing
One scheme now covers East Rand towns that once had schemes of their own, so older approvals may cite a scheme since replaced.
Ekurhuleni

Midvaal

Gauteng
By-law
Midvaal Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2017 — under review since 2025
Scheme
[Confirm name and year]
Worth knowing
Much of the land is agricultural holdings and farm portions, so excision and agricultural land consent arise far more than in the metros.
Midvaal

Mogale City

Gauteng
By-law
Mogale City Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2018
Scheme
Mogale City Land Use Scheme, 2022
Worth knowing
The single scheme replaced older town schemes, Krugersdorp's of 1980 among them, and much of the Cradle of Humankind lies within the municipality — adding heritage to the usual considerations.
Mogale City

Cape Town

Western Cape
By-law
City of Cape Town Municipal Planning By-law, 2015, most recently amended in 2025
Scheme
Development Management Scheme — Schedule 3 to the by-law
Worth knowing
The zoning scheme sits inside the by-law itself, the Western Cape's Land Use Planning Act applies alongside SPLUMA, and the 2025 amendment added data centres and supplementary dwelling units as defined terms.
Cape Town

eThekwini

KwaZulu-Natal
By-law
eThekwini Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2016, amended in 2019 and 2021
Scheme
Regional land use schemes — Central, North, South, Inner West and Outer West among them
Worth knowing
The Durban Metropolitan Open Space System, D'MOSS, is written into the schemes, so an environmental layer can decide a site before its zoning does.
eThekwini

Mahikeng

North West
By-law
Mahikeng By-law on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management, 2018
Scheme
[Confirm name and year]
Worth knowing
Formerly Mafikeng, and before that Mafeking — older deeds, diagrams and plans may carry an earlier name, which matters when searching the records.
Mahikeng
Industries We Serve

Where the Sector Meets the Scheme

What decides an application depends on two things: the kind of project, and where it sits. Student accommodation in Hatfield and in Rondebosch is the same kind of project — argued under different schemes, against different parking standards, before different decision-makers.

Residential

Density limits, parking standards and second-dwelling rules differ from scheme to scheme.

Residential

Commercial

Each municipality draws its own nodes and corridors in its Spatial Development Framework.

Commercial

Industrial

Bulk supply comes from different authorities, and buffers are set scheme by scheme.

Industrial

Institutional

Whether a school or clinic needs consent depends on how each scheme treats the zoning.

Institutional

Specialised

Agricultural land concentrates on the metro edges — Midvaal and Mogale City especially.

Specialised

The Industries page sets out what usually decides each kind of project. The municipality pages set out the rules it is decided under. Most instructions need both.

Industries we serve
How We Work

Same Method, Local Rules

The method does not change between municipalities. What it is applied to does — and the first two phases exist to make sure it is applied to the right rules.

Jurisdiction

Which municipality the property falls in — and, where land is near a boundary or its rights are old, which scheme those rights were granted under.

Instruments in force

The by-law and scheme as they stand today, including any amendments since the property's rights were last described.

Local policy

The Spatial Development Framework, precinct plans and local policies the decision-maker will weigh.

Local process

The advertising, the prescribed periods, and whether the matter sits with an authorised official or the Tribunal.

Motivation

The case argued on the SPLUMA principles, which apply everywhere, in the language of the local scheme, which does not.

What changes Why it matters What we check
Zones and parametersA use permitted as of right in one scheme may need consent in anotherThe zoning, its parameters and any annexure, in the scheme now in force
Procedure and periodsAdvertising requirements and decision periods are set by each by-lawThe notice requirements and the periods the by-law prescribes
Who decidesDelegations between officials and the Tribunal differ from one municipality to the nextWhether the matter sits with an authorised official or the Tribunal
Bulk services and contributionsSupply authorities and contributions policies are localCapacity with the supply authority, and the contributions policy that applies
Spatial policyEach Spatial Development Framework draws its own nodes, corridors and edgesThe SDF and any precinct plan covering the site
Common Questions

Jurisdiction Questions

What owners and developers ask us about working in their municipality.

Question not answered here?

Send us the erf number and the town it is in.

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Which by-law and scheme apply to my property?

Those of the municipality the property sits in, as they stand today. The zoning certificate is the usual starting point — it names the zoning and the scheme — but it records the position when it was issued, and several municipalities have replaced their schemes in recent years. We confirm the zoning against the scheme now in force, and read the title deed alongside it, since a registered condition can restrict what the scheme would otherwise allow.

Do you work outside Gauteng?

Yes — in Cape Town, eThekwini and Mahikeng, alongside the five Gauteng municipalities. Most of our work is in Gauteng, and outside it we work to the local by-law and scheme rather than to Gauteng practice. Cape Town, for example, applies the Western Cape's own planning Act alongside SPLUMA, and its zoning scheme sits inside its by-law — differences that change how an application is prepared.

Does the municipality change how long an application takes?

Yes. Each by-law prescribes its own procedure and decision periods, and each municipality works at its own pace within them. In Johannesburg, for instance, the by-law allows 90 days after the administrative phase to decide a rezoning and 60 for a consent use. Other municipalities set different periods, and some have changed theirs recently. We give you a realistic range for your municipality at the outset, rather than a figure borrowed from another.

My zoning certificate refers to an old scheme. Is it still valid?

The rights it describes usually carried over, but the terms may not have. When a municipality replaces its scheme, existing rights are generally translated into the new scheme's zones — sometimes under different names, with different parameters or conditions. A certificate issued under the old scheme tells you what the property was; it does not always tell you what it is now. We translate the old position into the current scheme before advising on anything that depends on it.

What if my property is near a municipal boundary?

Establish exactly which side it falls on before anything else. Boundaries do not always follow the roads or suburb names people assume, and a property marketed as being in one town can sit in the neighbouring municipality — with a different scheme, by-law and decision-maker. The title deed description settles it. Where a development straddles a boundary, each part is decided under its own municipality's rules.

Do you appear before the Tribunal in every municipality?

Yes, where a matter is referred. Every municipality we work in decides contested applications through a Municipal Planning Tribunal — or, for some smaller municipalities, a tribunal shared with neighbouring ones — and we present applications and answer objections before them. Their composition and procedures differ, which is part of what we prepare for.

Do you need an office in a municipality to act there?

No. Applications are prepared under each municipality's by-law and lodged in whatever form it requires, wherever the practice is based, and we attend site inspections, meetings and hearings in person where they are needed. What matters is knowing the local scheme and process, not having a local address.

Do you work in municipalities not listed here?

We consider it where the matter suits the practice, usually for an existing client whose portfolio extends further. We take on a new jurisdiction only after reading its by-law and scheme properly — and we will tell you if a planner with long local experience would serve the matter better.

Start a Conversation

Speak to a Planner

Send us the erf number and the town it is in. We will tell you which by-law and scheme apply, what they permit on your property, and how that municipality is likely to handle your application. Initial consultations carry no obligation.

Speak to a Planner
010 442 5522
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35 Fricker Road, Illovo, Sandton · Five sectors, eight municipalities