Land Use and Management in Lephalale Local Municipality

This research report focuses on land administration in Lephalale Local Municipality where the effects of the construction of Medupi power station have revealed how institutional dynamics in local government (in the case study region) are shaped by enduring legacies of colonial and apartheid administrations (Phadi and Pearson 2018; Monama, 2020).The report looks at two things: First, what does land use management mean in a municipality without any land? And how then, does SPLUMA work within such a context? Second, the report investigates the incremental introduction of a rural land-use scheme in previously bantustan areas characterised by varied forms of land ownership.In doing so, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is land-use management in Lephalale Local Municipality? 2. What is the role of stakeholders in land-use management including major mining and energy companies, individual land owners, private developers and civil society organisations? 3. What is the role of cooperative governance in land-use management with a focus on Coghsta, the HDA and a brief reflection of the District Development Model? 4. How does the municipality work with traditional authorities in land-use management as mandated by SPLUMA?