Thesis (M.A. (Political Science))--University of Limpopo, 2007 / Since 1913 black South Africans have been forcefully dispossessed of land under the racist land laws of the successive white South African governments. In 1994 the black government began to pass land laws that were supposed to provide blacks with land ownership rights. Ten years later blacks have re-claimed less than four percent of the eighty seven percent of the land they were dispossessed of. The failure to return dispossessed land to blacks is attributed to the ideology of the current government with respect to its land policy. This study attempts to fill the void regarding the ideological implications of the land reform policy of the post-apartheid government. We speculate that neo-liberal implications are dominant within this policy. Social democracy can overcome the failure of the policy as it is cost-effective and efficient and attempts to achieve social justice. It can therefore afford dispossessed and landless blacks land ownership.

The research report is hereby submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning to the School of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2017 / The main aim of the study is to investigate the significance of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (16 OF 2013) (SPLUMA) and its possible implications on land allocation in areas under traditional authority. In order to achieve this, the Act was reviewed as a data collection mechanism. This was done in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the act and its objectives before attempting to formulate the implications of this Act on land allocation in areas under traditional authority .This study explored how this new planning legislation (i.e. SPLUMA) will affect the roles and functions of traditional leaders in rural development and overall service provision, focusing mainly on land allocation. The research study discovered that SPLUMA was a significant Spatial and Land Use Management legislation in South Africa which is central in addressing issues of land rights and rural development. The findings were that there has been tension between traditional leaders and elected local government officials as they found contesting for power and authority in rural areas. This was because of the ambiguity and vagueness of the Constitution and the Traditional Leadership and Governance Act on issues of power and functions of the two institutions especially on matters of land allocation and administration. Another finding was regarding the socio-economic implication which showed that SPLUMA was a planning law which has potential to redress the socio-economic imbalances left by the colonial and apartheid regimes, but it requires the collaboration of traditional leaders as custodians of tribal land and customary law. Conclusions and key recommendations were that local government officials and traditional leaders need to cooperate on issues of land allocation and administration. However, clarification of roles and functions in SPLUMA regulations should be done to avoid tension and frustrations. Furthermore, there is also a need for national land allocation guidelines which traditional leaders should consider when allocating land. Lastly, capacitation of traditional leaders on spatial planning, land management and rural governance was indispensable in promoting land rights and rural development in areas under their jurisdiction. / MT2017

This research explores decision making in land suitability with regard to natural resource management, as it is practised in South Africa and internationally. The complexity of the problem leads to the need to use stakeholder analysis and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis which are researched further in the dissertation. A framework for decision making on land suitability is suggested. It is applied experimentally in several case studies on decision making in land suitability with regard to natural resource management. A land suitability analysis provides a typical scenario whereby a hard factual approach such as a GIS with data on soils, climate, rainfall, topography, ecosystems, etc. is combined with socio-economic activities such as agriculture, forestry and nature conservation. Most land suitability analysis is carried out with the aid ofa GIS. However, a GIS is limited to largely objective, spatial data. It is here that multicriteria decision analysis plays an important role by combining the different stakeholder perspectives with socio-economic and scientific data in a comprehensive Decision Support System. In this research, the Analytic Hierarchy Process is used to produce an experimental model on decision making in land suitability and this model is then tested against real life case studies which proves the model to be a valid decision making technique. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

Thesis (Ph.D. Administration (Development Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness in planning for and management of urbanisation towards climate change mitigation at the City of Polokwane, Polokwane Local Municipality in the Limpopo Province. In Africa, various studies have demonstrated that unplanned urbanisation has resulted in increasing Greenhouse Gas emissions, which has contributed to the intensification of climate change. Although every country has contributed to climate change, African countries have blamed the current climatic conditions (floods, drought, changing precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, heatwaves and high temperature) on the excessive development alternatives that are highly polluting from the developed countries. In South Africa, the Spatial Planning Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) is an important planning instrument to plan and manage urbanisation. Although there has been a transformation of legislative framework in South Africa, its implementation remains unreformed. The study adopted a mixed method approach to integrate the strengths of both the qualitative and quantitative methods. The study was undertaken at four areas around the City of Polokwane, namely Legae le Batho, Serala View, Emdo Park and Flora Park by engaging with the local communities on their perceptions regarding the planning and management practices within the municipality. The findings of the study indicate that there is a gap between the municipality and the local communities in the planning and management of urbanisation. The collaboration between the communities and Polokwane Local Municipality in planning serves as a strategy for efficient climate change mitigation. The use of solar systems for street lights, solar geysers, hybrid system (solar and batteries) and gas application can significantly reduce electricity consumption, which is currently generated from the combustion of fossil fuels. Therefore, the study recommends implementation of bio-digesters and solar plants to mitigate climate change. The study recommends proper alignment between the Polokwane Local Municipality and Capricorn District Municipality in terms of climate change mitigation to ensure effective implementation of project initiatives such as bio digesters (for gas generation) and solar plants for electricity generation.

The Eden To Addo Corridor Initiative aims to connect formally protected areas in a conservation corridor from the coastal area of the Eden District near Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape, South Africa to the Addo National Elephant Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The corridor will incorporate government and privately owned land, and will be an attempt to maintain ecological processes at a range of spatial and temporal scales. The Langkloof Valley lies between the Baviaanskloof World Heritage Area and the Tstitsikamma National Park; two formally protected areas that will be incorporated into the Eden To Addo Corridor. Spatial prioritization analyses allow conservation planners to select areas that should be targeted for conservation action based on a range of criteria. Historically, ecological criteria have been included mostly alone in spatial prioritization. Recently, the idea of ‘conservation opportunity’ has emerged in the field of conservation planning; the notion suggests that a range of different types of data should be included in processes to spatially prioritise for conservation. By including those data defined as ‘human’ and ‘social’ data into prioritising activities, the feasibility of conservation plans can be accounted for, but historically conservation planners have failed to do so. I conducted a literature review that demonstrated that although the importance of human and social data are acknowledged in the conservation planning literature, these data that define opportunity are rarely actually included in spatial prioritisation analyses. I then carried out a social assessment that allowed me to define the social and human context of our study area and, specifically, what stewardship instruments land managers in the Langkloof would be prepared to engage. We found that land managers were generally willing to engage, but lacked the financial capacity to adopt conservation methods. Using a subset of the social and human data that were collected in the social assessment, I trialled a new Decision Support Software to fuse those data with ecological data in a novel attempt to identify priority areas for conservation action based on ecological integrity and feasibility. We also scheduled (ranked) land managers to approach for conservation action with a focus on local champions and clusters of land managers displaying strong conservation characteristics. Two corridors were identified; a major corridor in the western region of the valley and a secondary corridor closer to the middle. The members of the Initiative have been briefed on the outcomes, which provided them an opportunity to provide feedback; it is hoped that the framework of this study can be used for planning future connections. The Eden To Addo Corridor Initiative sent out a stewardship extension officer in February 2011 to approach those land managers areas that were identified. This planning exercise is a good demonstration of how, by collaborating effectively, academic conservation planners can contribute to supporting decision making by organizations that are implementing conservation action.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Soil Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / In South Africa, land use planning has received limited attention in areas perceived as suitable for agricultural production. In the lack of reliable soil type and fertility status information, crop yields remain lower than the land’s potential, with subsequent land degradation. Despite this, studies that focused on land capability and soil suitability to date have not considered the spatial variability of the soil nutrients and factors influencing their variability. However, this information is key for site-specific soil management. Therefore, it is vital to link land capability and soi suitability with the spatial variability of soil nutrients as it opens opportunities for more rational management of the soil resources since soil nutrients directly affect crop growth and consequently yield. To address this issue, a study was conducted on a 12 ha banana plantation portion of the Makuleke farm. The main objectives of this study were to (1) survey, classify and characterise soils in order to derive and map land capability classes of Makuleke farm, (2) quantify the physical and chemical properties of the soils in order to derive and map the soil suitability of Makuleke farm for banana production, (3) assess the spatial variability and structure of soil nutrients across the Makuleke farm and (4) Identify the factors of control of the spatial variability of the soil nutrients across the Makuleke farm. To begin with, a field soil survey was conducted using transect walks complemented by auger observations to sub-divide the 12 ha banana plantation portion of the farm into varied soil mapping units. Thereafter, soil classification was done to group soils based on their morphological properties and pedological processes. During soil classification, a total of 12 representative profile pits (1.5 m × 1.5 m long × 2 m deep/limiting layer) were excavated, studied, described, and sampled. At each profile pit, three replicates samples were collected at 0 – 30 cm depth intervals giving rise to 36 bulk soil samples. From the gathered soil profile information, four soil units were thus delineated and identified across the 12 ha banana plantation. For soil fertility assessment, a grid sampling strategy at 50 × 50 m was adopted to collect the samples across the 12 ha banana plantation. A total of 27 composite samples were collected at the nodes of the grid, and thereafter bagged, labelled, and transported to the laboratory. In the laboratory, all collected samples were air-dried and sieved using a 2 mm sieve in preparation for soil physical and chemical properties analysis. The land capability assessment of Makuleke farm was done using the concepts and principles of the FAO framework for Land Evaluation (FAO, 1976), but adapted to South African conditions by Smith (2006). Soil suitability assessment was done using the FAO framework for Land Evaluation (FAO, 1976) coupled with the guidelines for rainfed agriculture (FAO, 1983) and the criteria proposed by Sys et al. (1993) and Naidu et al. (2006). To assess the spatial variability and structure of the soil nutrients across the farm, classical and geostatistical techniques were employed respectively. A correlation matrix was employed to identify key factors influencing the spatial variability of soil nutrients across the farm. For interpolation, ordinary kriging was used to generate soil nutrient spatial distribution maps. In this study, four soil forms were identified and classified as Hutton, Westleigh, Glenrosa, and Valsrivier, which are broadly distinguished as Lixisols, Plinthosols, Leptosols, and Cambisols. Land capability results revealed that 17% of the 12 ha portion of the farm has very high arable potential (I), 60% of the farm has medium arable potential (III), 6% has low arable potential (IV) and 17 % is non-arable (VI), which might explain the varied banana yields in the farm. Soil suitability analysis revealed that 12% of the 12 ha farm is highly suitable (S1), 34% is moderately suitable (S2), 38% is marginally suitable (S3) and 16% is permanently not suitable (N2) for banana production. The low arable and marginally suitable portion of the farm was under Valsrivier soils which were limited by its shallow depth, shallow rooting depth, acidic soil pH, low organic carbon (OC), and the fact that it was located on a steeper slope gradient. The non-arable and not suitable portion of the farm for banana production was under Glenrosa and it was limited by its location on a steep slope gradient and was characterised by shallow effective rooting depth, low OC, low clay content, and acidic soil pH. Classical statistical techniques revealed that phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and copper (Cu) content varied highly across the banana plantation, while magnesium (Mg) and total nitrogen (TN) varied moderately. In addition, the geostatistical analysis revealed that spatial dependency was weak (Ca, Cu, and TN), moderate (Mg and Zn), and strong (P, K, and Mn) for the different soil nutrients across the 12 ha banana plantation. Soil nutrients with strong spatial dependency have a good spatial structure and are easily manageable (in terms of fertilisation, liming, and irrigation) across the farm compared to the ones with weak spatial dependency which have a poor structure. This study also found that land attributes, which are soil type and topographic position were the main factors driving the spatial variability of the soil nutrients across the farm. In terms of soil type, soils such as Valsrivier and Glenrosa with 2:1 clay-type smectite were the ones that had nutrient content compared to soils with 1:1 clay-type kaolinite (e.g., Westleigh and Hutton). Higher nutrient contents were also observed in the footslope position compared to the middleslope of the farmland. Correlation analysis revealed that Mn was the key polyvalent cation influencing the spatial variability of P, K, and Zn. Soil pH and effective cation exchanges capacity (ECEC) were the key soil factors driving the spatial variability of Ca, while ECEC was the key factor affecting the spatial variability of Mg. Moreover, the spatial variability of soil Mn and Cu was driven by soil Cu and clay content, respectively. The kriged maps showed that P, Mg, Zn, and Mn were high in the northeast part and low in the northwest part of the farm. Similarly, K and Ca were low in the northwest part, but they were high in the south to the southwest part of the study area. Total nitrogen was high in the west part and low in the east-northeast part, while Cu was evenly distributed across the plantation. This study highlights the importance of prior land use planning (i.e., land capability and soil suitability) and fertility assessment for agricultural production. The research results obtained provide the actual reference state of the capability of the land for arable farming and soil suitability for banana production at Makuleke farm. Moreover, the research results provide the spatial variability and structure of the soil nutrients which have a greater impact on the growth and yield of bananas. The results obtained in this study will be useful for site-specific management of soil nutrients and other soil management practices (e.g., irrigation, fertilisation, liming, etc.), developing appropriate land use plans, and quantifying anthropogenic impacts on the soil system and thus improving land productivity. / National Research Foundation (NRF)