The management of development within the City entails various disciplines, from those that deal with the built environment - architecture and town planning - to legal and administrative experts.

A quick look at development management processes reveals three distinct phases - first, the submission phase (when a land use or building control application is lodged with the council); second the decision phase (when a decision is taken by the council to either grant or refuse the application); and third the post-decision phase (when the decision that has been taken by the council is implemented in terms of the administrative and other requirements of the relevant legislation).

The legal administration unit deals with two of the above phases (in respect of land use applications) - the decision phase, during which the unit provides logistical and administrative support for the planning committee, and the post-decision phase.

The decision phase
This unit provides support to what is known as the planning committee, the body that has been established to hear land use applications that have been referred because objections have been received, and which therefore require a hearing.

This is opposed to a decision being taken in terms of authority delegated to specific officials in the land use management sub-directorate. The section that provides this service is managed by Henry Human on 011 407 7113, and is known as the committee services unit.

The post-decision phase
This is the part of the process whereby the City, which is mandated to act as the "regulator" in terms of the relevant legislation, protects the relationship between the developer of land, the buyer of land, and the council, specifically in its role as the provider of physical infrastructure.

The legal administration sub-directorate thus ensures that the rights that have been granted "exist" (in the legal sense) and that all legal processes are complied with for the protection of all parties.

1. What kinds of applications are submitted to the legal administration sub-directorate?
These include requests for clearances to enable a person to transfer a newly approved subdivided portion of land either to himself or a third party - commonly knows as a "Regulation 38 Clearance".

In the case of newly proposed townships, the sub-directorate ensures that the necessary diagrams for the townships are registered with the surveyor-general, that the township register is opened at the office of the Registrar of Deeds, and that the township is proclaimed as a township with its "rights" in place.

Ultimately these processes make way for the transfer of erven out of the development as a whole and to individuals and third parties: this last stage is known as a "Section 82 clearance".

Notices are also placed in the Provincial Gazette advising the public at large that an application has been approved and directing the owners to whom the rights have been granted to pay external engineering services contributions. These contributions are calculated in relation to the increased effect of the new development on the City of Johannesburg's engineering services.

2. How does one go about applying?
Legal administration has an application form for any action that you wish to take in terms of paragraph one above. It should be noted that the sub-directorate works on a reactionary basis in that an organisation or individual must request that the application be proceeded with (with the exception of rezonings and consents).

Together with the application form, guidelines have been developed to assist applicants in obtaining all the necessary information in order for clearances to be issued as indicated in paragraph one above. These guidelines are available at the inspection counter for legal administration on the ninth floor of A Block, Metro Centre, 158 Loveday Street, Braamfontein.

3. Who deals with what?
Because the legal process is not dependent on geographical areas, applications are dealt with by three teams that are allocated the alphabetical ranges indicated below.

Only the managers of the teams are indicated. Should you require further information, telephone 011 407 6559.

• A-E: Leilani Colbett 011 407 6952
• F-M: Jeanne Steenkamp 011 407 6951
• N-Z: Elize de Wet 011 407 6972

4. Technical implementation
The calculation of external service contributions and the clearance of engineering services from a technical point of view are required as part of the post-decision process. In view of this, the sub-directorate includes a technical implementation section that is responsible for the post-approval process.

This section is headed by Dick Hallet (telephone 011 407 7438), assisted by Manie Engelbrecht (telephone 011 407 6476).

5. A few statistics
The core department within legal administration deals with about 4 000 requests and/or applications a year. Between 200 and 250 formal applications are referred to the sub-directorate each month. The core team dealing with applications consists of three managers, seven senior legal administrators and five legal administrators.

6. Our approach
Despite limited resources, the legal administration sub-directorate endeavours to provide the best possible service. To ensure the best results and to achieve an unbiased approach in dealing with clients, work is handled on a strictly "First in - First out" basis.

The sub-directorate can only deal with applications that contain all the information required as per the guidelines and which can be regarded as fully complete. This includes the payment of the necessary fees as per the City's tariffs and charges schedule.

Documentation and/or applications should be submitted to Sonja van der Walt, the head of registration, on the ninth floor of A Block, Metro Centre, 158 Loveday Street, Braamfontein.

Once submitted, an application is registered, for protection of both the applicant and the council, after which the application is referred to the relevant team for further processing.

7. Consultation hours and availability
Consultation hours for the general public and consultants are from 8am to 12pm. After 12pm staff will only be available for consultation if a prior appointment has been made.

The inspection counter, which allows the public to view files, is open from 8am to 3pm. Please note that lunch times are from 1pm to 1.30pm on weekdays. The core business hours of the department are from 7.30am to 4pm.

8. Turnaround times
As a general guideline, the sub-directorate is committed to a turnaround time of 14 to 21 working days for any reply or action to be taken in terms of documents and/or applications submitted, with the proviso that those documents are complete and can be assessed or evaluated.

9. Legal administration staff
Assistant Director: legal administration
Nicolene le Roux
Tel: 011 407 6559