Study Research FindingsProtecting the PHA: Building the City’s Resilience & Adding to its

CompetitivenessDraft PHA Socio-Economic Agricultural Plan,

Stakeholder Feedback Presentation

24th April 2018

Study Purpose• Develop a Socio-Economic

Agricultural Plan for the PHA to unlock sustainable agricultural activities through a value-chain and multi-stakeholder approach

• Establish the significance of the PHA ito:

• Agriculture• Natural environment• Socio-economic contribution

• Locate within the context of climate change and severe drought impact on agricultural production

Indego’s Approach• Review policy and legislative mandates of public

sector:• Natural resource protection• Agricultural land• Sustainable urban development & food security• Integrated human settlements• Agrarian reform

• Literature review of key contextual issues: Climate Change, importance of urban agriculture for food security, impact of vegetable industry on food pricing & success factors for agrarian reform

• Establish the PHA’s environmental, agricultural, social & economic significance

• Consult and engage stakeholders

• Low levels of social trust evident

Methodology

• 4 work streams with specialist teams• Extensive literature reviews• Farmer survey• Value chain key informant interviews• Stakeholder feedback sessions• Joint stakeholder planning• PTM 14th Feb 2018• Extended Cabinet 7th Mar 2018• Bilateral meetings with Cllrs Herron & JP Smith• IGC Meeting 9th Apr 2018• CCT’s Economy & Environmental Cluster

Committee 12th April• Minister’s feedback to farmer representatives

17th April 2018• Standing Committee on Economic Opportunities,

Tourism & Agriculture 18th April• Planned broad stakeholder feedback session 24th

April

• Study benefitted hugely from strong political and administrative leadership and ownership

Study Area• Greater PHA Area – 3168.56 HA• Current land uses

• Area 1: Schaapkraal Small holdings• Area remainder – agriculture – 1884

ha• Area 3: Lansdowne Industrial Area• Area 4: Highlands residential area

and Weltevreden wedge• Area 5: thicket and grassland covered

dunes & mining• Area 6: agriculture and small holding,

with dunes and grassland

• 9 informal settlements – mainly in buffer areas

PHA Informal Settlements

• Tenure insecure• Service delivery challenges,

especially storm-water management & electricity

• Threat of CFA contamination as a result

• Many residents food insecure• One source of labour to PHA• High social problems and low levels

of social service access

Settlement Name Number of Residential

Units

Comment

2011 2016Egoli (Philippi) (Boundary Road) 351 448 27,6% growth (2011-2016)Engen (Strandfontein Road) 7 4 DeclineJabula (Olieboom Road, HighlandsEstate)

60 70 Slight growth

Jim se Bos (Olieboom Road) 303 429 41,5% growth (2011-2016)Knole Park (Williston Road) 44 28 DeclineSiqalo (Jakes Gerwel Drive) - 2,255 Significant growthSmallville TRA (Olieboom Road –core)

64 58 Decline

Springfield Road (Springfield Road) 38 26 Small-Farmers’ ResidentialVillage

Weltevreden Road (south) - 3TOTAL 867 3,321

Problem Statement• Historically, policy and legislative consensus -

PHA retained for horticultural and sand mining

• In recent years, this consensus undermined by certain planning decisions & lack of regulation

• Has resulted in:• 40% loss of agricultural land• Land speculation & lack of investment• Conflicting & illegal land uses• Land invasions• Inconsistent land use mgt & infrastructure

maintenance• Decrease in safety and security & increase in

cost of doing business

• Some farmers have reached “tipping point”• Impact of crime: decrease in profit of 4 – 28%

• If nothing is done to reverse the situation, the PHA will be lost to agriculture

Stakeholder environment

• Lack of policy certainty increased stakeholder contestation

• Vested interests• Increased competition

• Conflictual and weak stakeholder relations emerged amongst:

• farmers• farmers and farm workers• civil society and farmers• Informal settlement dwellers

and civil society and farmers• civil society and public sector• farmers and public sector

• Low levels of social trust

Framing of the Debate

Save the PHA Pave the PHA

Study Findings

Vegetable-Growing Significance

• Unique owing to combination of:• climate, • water and• Soil

• Enables minimum of 3 – 4 crop cycles p.a.

• Resilient during current drought• Irreplaceable within a radius of 120

km from CCT

Unique Agricultural Land

• National Policy on the Protection of High Potential and Unique Agricultural Land (2006), definition:

Land that is or can be used for producing specific high value crops. It is not usually high potential but important to agriculture due to a specific combination of location, climate or soil properties that make it highly

suited for a specific crop when managed with specific farming or conservation methods. This includes land of high local importance

where it is useful and environmentally sound to encourage continued agricultural production, even if some or most of the land is of mediocre quality for agriculture and is not used for particularly high value crops.

Environmental Significance: Cape Flats Aquifer

• CFA base below sea level over substantial area (violet tones)

• Thickest portion reaches >50 metres below ground level

• PHA sits on deepest and thickest section of Paleochannel • The PHA and broader CFA have been modified over time,

resulting in:• Altered drainage patterns• Increased contamination

• Urban edge encroachment is reducing the natural systems ability to function as recharge area and natural filter system

Cape Flats Aquifer• Groundwater potential of the total CFA is~ 26

Gl/pa (= 26 Billion litres)• Current use is estimated at 9.9 Gl/pa, of

which 5 Gl/pa is from PHA• Important natural recharge area• Other benefits:

• energy savings, nitrogen sequestration, avoided storm-water runoff, climate regulation, pollination

• Water quality still good for agriculture• Sufficient water available for expanded

horticultural activities

Environmental Significance: Geology and Soil

• PHA is located in a low relief Cape Flats area underlain by NW/SE-orientated dunes driven by the winds

• Elandsfontyn, Sprinfontyn and Witsandformations form the major aquifers within the larger CFA

• Basal fluvial channel gravels located within the paleochannels have the greatest groundwater potential

• The PHA’s geology is Springfontynformation overlain by Witzand formation

• Witzand has been mined, with the remaining resource in the south

Sand Mining• Urban growth driving demand for building sand• PHA Witzand

• 28 sand pits in the PHA, 3 in operation (2012)• 33,5 Megatons of building sand exploited with remaining

resource of 26 Mt mainly in the south• Resource value: R 5 464 837 950• Mine to 1m above the water table• Land can be rehabilitated for farming

• PHA Springfontyn• Silica sand with a resource of 315M tons• 75 US$ per ton = R 276 Billion• Regarded as a high quality & competitive resource• High environmental impact as requires dredging • No farming rehabilitation• Recommend future silica mining limited to outside the core

horticultural area

Socio-Economic Significance

Socio-Economic Context

• Cape Flats District – 15% of CCT’s population• Second highest district unemployment rate• High-level poverty pockets• High social challenges• Employment centres and movement routes concentrated in the north• PHA is part of ecological link to the False Bay Coast and is part of the Cape Metropolitan Open Space System

Heritage• Heritage: natural, archaeological, paleontological,

unmarked burials, landscape and agricultural• Prehistoric

• Prehistoric Cape Flats Skull discovered• Pre-colonial

• Evidence of Khoi and San settlements & livelihoods• Colonial

• “Crown Land” for hunting & grazing• Designated for production

• German settlers• 1860s – 1883 German settlers • PHA transformed - “vegetable pantry of Cape Town”

• Apartheid• 1950 Group Areas Act • 1968 District Six Forced Removals

• Recent decisions by Heritage Western Cape to protect PHA land portions from development

PHA Production

• 64% of the core PHA land cultivated

• 89% of surveyed farm land cultivated

• 63% of productive land farmed by large commercial farmers and 32% by smaller commercial

• High variations in land sizes• Smallholders 9.6ha• Commercial 24.8 ha• Big commercial 149.4 ha

• Southern land portions have the highest agricultural potential

• Annual Crop rotation 3 – 4

• Ageing farmer profile – mean age of commercial farmers 65 years

Top Twelve of 28 PHA Vegetable Products

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Carrots Lettuce Cabbage Spinach Cauliflower Leeks Herbs Kale / Rape Radishes Turnips /Parsnips

Beetroot

Percentage Farmers Producing Product

Value of PHA to Markets• Retailers/ Food Processors

• Woolworths “We would be lost without the PHA”

• Shoprite Checkers source R 90 Million per annum from the PHA

• E.g. Patagonia sources 60 tons p/m from the PHA - “Losing the PHA would cripple our business”

• Cape Town Market• PHA influences the market price• PHA product quality is good• Relatively low contribution of PHA to

CT market owing to buyers that source “at the farm gate” & supply of retail markets

• Informal traders• If the hawkers weren’t here the PHA

could close down• When PHA products are scarce,

market prices increase

Competitiveness of the PHA

Proximity to markets; lower carbon footprint; lower prices; all-year round

supply; drought resilience

Socio-Economic Significance: Agricultural Production

Current Existing PotentialPerformance Area

Direct Indirect Direct Indirect

Employment 2723 27 234 5 500 55 000Turnover R 484M R 938M R 848M R 1.6 Billion

For every R 1 million spent in the vegetable industry 4.65 direct jobs are created and 46.5 indirect jobs

Broader Socio-Economic Significance• PHA contributes to:

• CCT’s and WC’s climate change resilience• Sustainable and inclusive urban

development• City, regional & national food security • National food price moderator• Regional competitiveness

• All elements in place for successful agrarian reform model

Policy & Legal ImperativesPHA status as a unique agricultural area, the underlying CFA, & its heritage value requires its protection in terms of:• Broader legislation & policy mandates of public sector

• Extensive legislation dealing with the reservation/proclamation of the PHA

• Existing CCT statutory prescripts, regulations & guidelines• Application of current legal instruments:

• SPLUMA principles• LUPA (S 53) – dual authorisation• MSDF• District Plan• CCT Development Management Scheme• Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, No 70• Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill• National Heritage Act• National Environmental Management Act (Waste Act)• National Water Act

Spatial & Development Planning Alignment

• Need for PHA land-use protection recognized by stakeholders• Aligned to WCG & CCT strategic development goals and objectives

• Aligned to provincial & CCT spatial plans• Revised MSDF classifies PHA as a Critical Natural

Area• Integration Zones and TOD principles

• Provincial human settlements plans• Requires detailed district and precinct planning• Need to ensure consistency with planning decisions by WCG & CCT

Composite CCT & WCG Human Settlement Plans

• Planned human settlements development to north & east in alignment with ToD

• Decanting of Kossovo into WeltevredenWedge

• Plans to formalise housing from north to south in the Wetevreden Wedge - social services & compatible economic activity

• Integrate urban agriculture into the design• PHA protection part of delivering

integrated human settlements• Development in the south is not aligned to

CCT’s spatial investment framework

Identified RisksRisks Mitigating Actions

Failure to manage & regulate

• Policy certainty• Land use and environmental regulation• Precinct management entity

Farmer and community safety and security

• Community Safety Improvement Plan• WC Police Ombudsman• CPF and NW support• Youth Safety Initiative• Police reservist / Auxiliary Volunteers• Rent-a-cop Programme• Technology i.e. CCTV cameras and drones

Land invasions

• Clear Policy communication• Land invasion Unit• Community awareness and buy-in• Social compact• Address needs of informal settlement dwellers

Illegal land-use and dumping

• Land use and environmental regulation (City & Green Scorpions)

• Land Use Management

Low levels of social trust

• Feedback, engagement• Process facilitation• Public sector commitments• Social Compact• Implementation of the PHA Plan

PHA Socio-Economic

Agricultural Plan

Vision: A PHA that is protected, productive,

sustainable, inclusive, safe and secure for all who work, live, invest

and visit there

PHA Vision

Phase 1: Stabilise the PHA

• Policy and planning certainty• Community Safety Plan• Land-use and environmental

regulation• Establish and manage CFA

protection zones• Set up a dedicated PHA

precinct management structure

Phase 2: Consolidate the PHA

• Comprehensive agrarian reform programme• Sound CFA management

• Prioritise and address needs of informal settlement dwellers

• Formalise human settlements within the PHA buffers and encourage urban agriculture design

• Encourage complementary economic activity within the PHA and its buffers

• Facilitate strategic linkages to broader initiatives within the Metro Central Partnership, such as to the aerotropolis, the WCG Air Access project, agro-processing

Phase 3: Grow the PHA

• Destination and product branding

• Product and technological development

• Tourism activity clusters• Market access and expansion

Adopt a “Whole of Society Approach”CCT Functions Provincial Departments National Departments &

ParastatalsPrivate Sector & Civil

Society focii

• Planning & land-use management

• Water and sanitation• Urban development,

integrated human settlements & public transport

• Economic development

• Area Based Management

• Safety & Security

• Premier’s Office• DoA• DEADP• DCS• DHS• Transport• Treasury• Local Government• DCAS• Social sector depts• DEDAT

• DWS• DRD&LR• DAFF• DMR• SANRAL• ACSA• SAPS• WESGRO• Heritage Western Cape

• Supplier development programmes

• BBBEE• Job creation • Skills development• Knowledge sharing• Technology transfer• Sustainable agriculture• Branding and

marketing• Regulation • CSI• Research & innovation

Way forward

Tabling at Cabinet & IGC

CCT Council MSDF adoption

Cabinet adoption of study recommendations

Public/private & civil society stakeholder

commitments

Alignment of Plans and budgets

Signing of an IGR

Implementation Protocol

Signing of a Social Compact

How to achieve this?

Implementation Mechanisms1. WC DoA designated as lead/ co-ordinating provincial

department together with CCT2. Set up & capacitate PHA Project Management Team

(PMT) under the CCT & WC DoA

PHA Precinct Management Structure

Conclusion

• Implementation of the PHA must happen

• PHA an urban ASSET contributing to urban resilience, integration, food security & sustainability• Failure to implement will result in deterioration & loss of the PHA to agriculture• Public sector cannot do this alone• Requires a broad partnership with the farmers, farm workers, broader value chain, communities, organised civil society & universities• Together must protect, defend and grow the PHA

THANK YOU