CCT89/09

[2010] ZACC 11

2010 (6) SA 182 (CC)

2010 (9) BCLR 859 (CC)

Jafta J

24 February 2010

18 June 2010

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12144/3594

Applicant seeks confirmation of the invalidity order in City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal and Others 2010 (2) SA 554 (SCA); 2010 (2) BCLR 157 (SCA) and leave to appeal against certain ancillary orders relating to the suspension of the declaration of invalidity, and also leave to appeal against the dismissal of its appeal in relation to the review of two decisions of the Respondent. The case was first heard in the South Gauteng High Court: City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality v Gauteng Development Tribunal and Others (Mont Blanc Projects and Properties (Pty) Ltd and Another as Amici Curiae) 2008 (4) SA 572 (W).

Application for confirmation and an appeal against parts of an order made by the Supreme Court of Appeal, declaring Chapters V and VI of the Development Facilitation Act unconstitutional. The issue before this Court was whether the Constitution empowers the municipal or the provincial sphere of government, or both, to exercise powers relating to the rezoning of land and the establishment of townships. The Court held that the Constitution envisages a degree of autonomy for the municipal sphere, in which municipalities exercise their original constitutional powers free from undue interference from other spheres of government. The powers to consider and approve applications for the rezoning of land and the establishment of townships are elements of “municipal planning”, an exclusive municipal function assigned to municipalities by section 156(1) of the Constitution read with Part B of Schedule 4. The order of invalidity was suspended for 24 months, so as to limit any disruptive effects it may have and to allow parliament to rectify the defects in the Act, or pass new legislation.