SAPI | About SAPI

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

Alan Lakein

About SAPI
SAPI Presidents

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

The purpose and aim of the South African Planning Institute (SAPI) is to enhance the art and science of sustainable local, regional and national human and physical development planning, and the theory and practise relating thereto.

The objectives of SAPI are as follows:

to promote the profession of planning in South Africa;
to promote a high level of professionalism and ethical conduct in the broad interests of society at large;
to promote and protect the interests of its members;
to promote the standard of education and training of persons in the planning profession;
to ensure that planning within South Africa promotes sustainable use of natural resources, social and economic upliftment of all population segments;
to initiate and promote reforms in the laws, policies and programmes relating to planning in South Africa; and
to promote inter-disciplinary discussion and collaboration, and also national and international contact and exchange

SAPI CONSTITUTION

The South African Planning Institute (SAPI) was formed on 1 July 1996 following the amalgamation of the South African Institute of Town and Regional Planners (SAITRP) and the Development Planning Association of South Africa (DPASA).

The Constitution and Rules of SAPI state the main purpose and objectives of the Institute, all intended to promote planning as a profession in South Africa and to ensure that its members concern themselves with issues relevant to planning, as well as who should benefit from the Institute.

The Constitution describes the membership to the Institute, who may become a member, the duties and rights of members and the relevant procedures for application, resignation, etc.. The Constitution makes provision for structure and procedures for the Institute’s governance and management, a National Board and Regional Committees. The Rules summarizes the Planner’s responsibilities to clients and employers and sets rules for the Institute’s members and their professional conduct.

SAPI Constitution-2018

CODE OF CONDUCT

The Constitution and Rules of the South African Planning Institute (SAPI) includes rules regarding the professional conduct of the Institute’s members. In addition to the Rules, the Planning Professions Act, 2000 (Act No 36 of 2000) governs the planning profession in South Africa and was preceded by the Town and Regional Planning Act, 1984 (Act No 19 of 1984). Both laws contain directives regarding professional conduct. The SAPI National Board saw a need for a more specific code of conduct or operating code.

The Code of Conduct of SAPI was adopted in July 2005 and all the Institute’s members are obligated to adhere to the Code of Conduct.

The South African Planning Institute Code of Conduct – July 2005

HISTORY

The South African Planning Institute (SAPI) was formed on 1 July 1996 following the amalgamation of the SAITRP and the DPASA.A successor to the South African Branch of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI, established January 1944), the South African Institute of Town and Regional Planners (SAITRP) was formed in 1954. The Institute was for a number of years the only professional association of national significance in South Africa.

Prior to the Second World War, a number of regional bodies had been established. These included the ‘Town Planning Association of the Transvaal’ established in 1919 and lead by Colin Wade, the Cape Province Town Planning Association, established in 1931 and lead by A.H. Cornish, Bowden, and the Town Planning Association of Natal, also established in 1931, under the leadership of a surveyor by the name of Schelin.

In January 1944, the South African Branch of the Royal Town Planning Institute was established, but this was intended to serve much of southern Africa, and not just South Africa. There was however growing concern that there was a need in the post war period for a national body which concentrated on issues of national rather than regional significance.

It is recorded that by 1947, the Chairman of the Transvaal Town Planning Association, Professor Geoffrey Pearce of the University of the Witwatersrand, had encouraged a number of planners to support the establishment of a South African Institute of Town and Regional Planning. By 1953 the Cape Committee of the SA Branch of the Royal Town Planning Institute was also placing on record its support for the formation of an independent national body.

On 15 February 1954, a formal resolution was taken by a group of planners meeting at the University of the Witwatersrand to establish the South African Institute of Town and Regional Planners (SAITRP). The record shows that the planners present included PR Anderson, MD Baldocchi, NT Cooper, J Fassler, TB Floyd, K Douglas Green, HM Marsh, WPF McLaren and JH Scott.

For a period of about 40 years the SAITRP was the only professional association of national significance and had as its primary objective, ‘to advance the science and art of town and regional planning’, and was concerned mostly with the promotion of, and standards within, the profession and the discipline.

It was mainly concerned with the promotion of, and standards within, the profession and the discipline. The South African Council of Town and Regional Planners (SACTRP) was formed in terms of the Town and Regional Planners Act, 1984 (Act No 19 of 1984), and as a consequence, the statutory role and functions of the SAITRP fell away.

The Development Planning Association of South Africa (DPASA) was founded in January 1994 in response to the concerns and perceptions of a group of planners that the profession and the SAITRP was not doing enough to promote the transformation of both society and the planning profession in South Africa, nor creating sufficient opportunities for the empowerment of planners from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.

20 YEAR REFLECTION

The South African Planning Institute (SAPI) was formed on 1 July 1996 through the amalgamation of the South African Institute of Town and Regional Planners (SAITRP) and the Development Planning Association of South Africa (DPASA).

This reflection of the 20 year journey taken by the leaders and members of SAPI is a tribute to the selfless efforts made to build an independent and connected organisation.

20 years seems like a long time but it is rather short in the context of building a new organisation during a momentous period in South Africa, a period when the country was making a transition from apartheid to democracy.