Eleven municipalities, three provinces
One Act, Eleven Rulebooks
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) sets the principles and the framework for every municipality in South Africa. The rules for a particular property are local: the municipality’s planning by-law, its land use scheme, its spatial development framework, and the tribunal that decides a contested application.
We act for owners and developers in all nine Gauteng municipalities, from the three metros to the West Rand and Sedibeng districts, and in eThekwini (Durban) and Mahikeng. 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.
Instruments checked on .
What each municipality runs on
By-laws and Land Use Schemes in Force
The planning by-law and the land use scheme in force in each municipality, and the first thing an owner there should know. Where a municipality is replacing an instrument, its entry says so.
Checked against Gazette notices, the municipalities’ own documents and applications lodged under them, on .
| Municipality | Planning by-law | Land use scheme | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gauteng: the metros Three metropolitan municipalities | |||
Johannesburg Our office City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality Sandton, Randburg, Midrand, Roodepoort and Soweto |
City of Johannesburg Municipal Planning By-law, 2016, as amended in 2023 | City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018, as amended 2025, in operation since 1 July 2026 | The scheme replaced the clauses of fifteen former town planning schemes, but their annexures and schedules still bind the erven they cover, and prevail over the scheme’s own clauses. |
Tshwane City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality Pretoria, Centurion, Irene and Akasia |
City of Tshwane Land Use Management By-law, 2016, amended 2024 | Tshwane Land Use Scheme, 2024 | The 2024 scheme replaced the Tshwane Town-planning Scheme, 2008 (Revised 2014), so a zoning certificate issued before it may describe rights under a scheme no longer in force. Applications are lodged online, through e-Tshwane. |
Ekurhuleni City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality Germiston, Kempton Park, Boksburg, Benoni and Bedfordview |
City of Ekurhuleni Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2019 | City of Ekurhuleni Land Use Scheme, 2021 | The 2021 scheme replaced the Ekurhuleni Town Planning Scheme, 2014, which had brought the East Rand towns’ schemes together, so older approvals may cite either. The scheme sets its own conditions for land on dolomite. |
| West Rand District Three local municipalities | |||
Mogale City Mogale City Local Municipality Krugersdorp, Kagiso, Muldersdrift and Magaliesburg |
Mogale City Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2018 | Mogale City Land Use Scheme, 2022 | The single scheme replaced older ones, including the Krugersdorp Town Planning Scheme, 1980. Much of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and its buffer zone lies in the municipality, and building on dolomite needs a dolomite safety clearance. |
Rand West City Rand West City Local Municipality Randfontein, Westonaria and Bekkersdal |
Rand West City Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2017 | The former towns’ schemes, including the Randfontein Town-planning Scheme, 1988. A single scheme for the municipality was advertised for comment in 2025. | Formed in 2016 from Randfontein and Westonaria. Its contested applications go to the West Rand District Municipal Planning Tribunal, and parts of its mining belt are undermined or dolomitic. |
Merafong City Merafong City Local Municipality Carletonville, Fochville and Khutsong |
Merafong City Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2020 | Merafong Land Use Management Document, 2020 | Carletonville, Khutsong and Welverdiend lie on dolomite, and the municipality reports active sinkholes, so a dolomite stability investigation often comes first. |
| Sedibeng District Three local municipalities | |||
Emfuleni Emfuleni Local Municipality Vereeniging, Vanderbijlpark and Sebokeng |
Emfuleni Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-laws, 2018 | Emfuleni Land Use Scheme, 2023 | The single scheme came into operation in February 2023 and replaced the former town schemes, so older certificates cite a scheme no longer in force. |
Midvaal Midvaal Local Municipality Meyerton, Walkerville and Henley on Klip |
Midvaal Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law. A replacement was advertised for comment in 2025. | Midvaal Land Use Scheme, 2023 | Much of the land is agricultural holdings and farm portions, so excision of agricultural holdings and consent under the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act 70 of 1970 come up often. Most of the built-up area lies on dolomite. |
Lesedi Lesedi Local Municipality Heidelberg and Ratanda |
Lesedi Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2015 | The municipality’s land use scheme, now under review | Most of the municipality is farmland, with agricultural holdings in several wards, so subdivision of agricultural land and excision of holdings are common routes. |
| KwaZulu-Natal One metropolitan municipality | |||
eThekwini eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality Durban, Umhlanga, Westville and Pinetown |
eThekwini Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2016, amended in 2019 and 2021 | eThekwini Municipal Land Use Scheme, in five regional sub-schemes: Central, North, South, Inner West and Outer West | The Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS) is written into the scheme, so an environmental layer can settle a site’s status before its zoning does. |
| North West One local municipality | |||
Mahikeng Mahikeng Local Municipality Mahikeng and Mmabatho |
Mahikeng Spatial Planning and Land Use Management By-law, 2018 | Mahikeng Land Use Scheme, 2023 | Formerly Mafikeng, and earlier Mafeking, so older deeds and diagrams may use either name. About 44% of the municipality is traditional land, where SPLUMA gives traditional councils a part in planning. |
How we work across municipalities
Same Method, Local Rules
The method does not change between municipalities. What it is applied to does.
- Jurisdiction Which municipality the property falls in and, where it lies near a boundary or its rights are old, which scheme granted them. The property description in the title deed settles it.
- Instruments in force The by-law and the scheme in force today, every amendment since the rights were last described, and any annexure or schedule carried over from an older scheme.
- Local policy The spatial development framework, precinct plans and policies the decision-maker must weigh. Under SPLUMA a tribunal may depart from the municipal spatial development framework only where site-specific circumstances justify it.
- Local process The notice the by-law requires, its prescribed periods, how and where the municipality takes applications, and whether an official or the tribunal decides.
- Motivation The case argued on SPLUMA’s development principles, which apply everywhere, in the language of the local scheme.
Questions
Jurisdiction Questions
Not answered here? Call +27 10 442 5522, or send us the erf number and we will tell you which rules apply.
Which by-law and scheme apply to my property?
Those of the municipality the property sits in, as they stand today. A zoning certificate names the zoning and the scheme, but only as at the day it was issued, and several of these municipalities have replaced their schemes since 2021. We check the zoning against the scheme in force and read the title deed, because registered conditions can restrict what the scheme allows.
How do I know which municipality my property is in?
The property description in the title deed and the rates account settle it. Suburb names can mislead: Midrand and Roodepoort are in the City of Johannesburg, Bedfordview and Edenvale in Ekurhuleni, Centurion in Tshwane, and Muldersdrift in Mogale City. A development that straddles a boundary is generally decided under each municipality’s rules for the part in its area.
My zoning certificate refers to an old scheme. Is it still valid?
It shows the position on the day it was issued. When a scheme is replaced, existing rights are generally carried into the new scheme’s zones, sometimes under different names, parameters or conditions. We translate the old position into the scheme in force before advising on anything that depends on it.
Does the municipality change how long an application takes?
Yes. Each by-law sets its own procedure and decision periods, and each municipality works at its own pace within them. We give you a realistic range for your municipality at the first consultation.
Does every municipality have its own planning tribunal?
Not always. SPLUMA lets a municipality set up its own Municipal Planning Tribunal, share a joint tribunal with its neighbours or use a district tribunal: Rand West City’s contested applications, for example, go to the West Rand District Municipal Planning Tribunal. Where a matter is referred, we present the application and answer the objections before whichever tribunal decides it. Our Tribunal Representation and Appeals page explains how we prepare for a hearing.
Do you need an office in a municipality to act there?
No. We work from one office, at 35 Fricker Road, Illovo, Johannesburg. Applications are lodged in the form each municipality requires, online where it takes them online, and we attend site inspections, meetings and hearings in person where they are needed.
Do you work in municipalities not listed here?
Sometimes, usually for an existing client whose property portfolio extends further. We take on a new municipality only after reading its by-law and scheme, and if a planner with long experience there would serve you better, we will say so.