The Chairperson of the Municipal Appeals Tribunal, City of Tshwane & Others v Brooklyn and Eastern Areas Citizens Association & Others

Caliber 651 (Pty) Ltd applied in September 2015 for the rezoning of property in Brooklyn, Pretoria, from ‘Residential 1’ to ‘Special’ use. The Municipal Planning Tribunal of the City of Tshwane approved the rezoning in May 2016. Objections had been lodged by the Brooklyn and Eastern Areas Citizens Association (BEACA) and the University of Pretoria. After the decision, BEACA lodged an internal appeal. The developer raised points in limine alleging the appeal was invalid. BEACA then lodged a second appeal. The Municipal Appeals Tribunal upheld the points in limine and dismissed the appeals as invalid, holding that the appeal procedure under SPLUMA and the Tshwane Land Use Management By-law 2016 applied and that reliance on the Town Planning and Townships Ordinance was incorrect. BEACA successfully reviewed this decision in the Gauteng Division of the High Court, which set aside the Appeals Tribunal’s ruling and remitted the matter. The municipal bodies and the developer appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal. While the appeal was pending, the building was completed and occupied.

The appeal was largely dismissed. The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision to review and set aside the Appeals Tribunal’s ruling, but amended the remittal order. The Appeals Tribunal was directed to dismiss the points in limine relating to BEACA’s first internal appeal, uphold the points in limine relating to the second appeal, and to determine the merits of the first internal appeal in accordance with SPLUMA and the Tshwane Land Use Management By-law 2016. The appellants were ordered to pay BEACA’s costs.

The case clarifies the transitional application of SPLUMA and municipal land use by-laws in rezoning appeals, confirming that internal appeals lodged after the commencement of a municipal by-law must follow SPLUMA-based procedures even if the rezoning application was initiated earlier. It also provides important guidance on mootness under s 16(2) of the Superior Courts Act in administrative and planning disputes, and on the appealability of remittal orders.