Marine spatial planning (MSP) is a long-term and strategic decision-making process that guides where and when human activities occur in the ocean. Making sure the right activity takes place in the right areas and helps facilitate the development of a sustainable blue economy – benefitting South Africans and the environment alike.

The major MSP output is a comprehensive sustainable development plan that guides where and when uses occur in the ocean.

MSP IN SOUTH AFRICA AIMS AT:

• unlocking the ocean economy
• enabling society to engage with the ocean
• ensuring a healthy marine ecosystem
• good ocean governance.

There is a growing range of industries in the South African ocean space. These need to be managed in a coordinated way, to avoid conflicts between marine uses and conflicts with the environment. South Africa is therefore implementing MSP to facilitate integrated management of human uses in the ocean.

OUR OCEAN IS ONE OF SA’s GREATEST ASSETS THAT NEEDS TO BE WELL MANAGED IN ORDER TO:

• balance socio-economic development and ecological sustainability
• provide security for public and private sector investment
• encourage and attract innovation
• increase coordination and integration between sectors to reduce conflicts and enhance synergies
• contribute to greater food security.

THE LEAD AUTHORITY

The lead authority for MSP in South Africa is the DFFE. As lead authority the department chairs the National Working Group, comprised of competent officials who are nominated from the departments responsible for defence, energy, environmental affairs, fisheries, mineral resources, planning monitoring and evaluation, public enterprises, science and technology, telecommunications, tourism, transport, rural development and land affairs.

COMMITTEES ON MSP

The established Directors-General Committee and Ministerial Committee on Marine Spatial Planning are comprised of the aforementioned departments. While the MSP authority DFFE chairs the committees, the Department for Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) is the co-chair of both committees.

FOUR PLANNING UNITS

In order to make the development of marine area plans manageable and sufficiently relevant in terms of the objectives each one of them seeks to achieve, South Africa’s marine space is divided into the following four smaller bio-geographic areas that serve as planning units:

• Western Marine Planning Area
• Southern Marine Planning Area
• Eastern Marine Planning Area
• Prince Edward Islands Marine Planning Area

SITUATION OF MARINE PLANNING AREAS

Three of the four marine planning areas are situated along the South African mainland while the fourth is located around the Prince Edward Islands.

The Western and Eastern Marine Planning Areas are bounded by the neighbouring Republic of Namibia and Republic of Mozambique, respectively, and thus delimited on one side by international borders. The Prince Edward Islands Marine Planning Area borders the Republic of France at the Eastern boundary of the EEZ where the French Crozet Island lies.

The process of MSP in South Africa has so far entailed the following key steps:

The Marine Spatial Planning Act, 2018 (Act No. 16 of 2018) [PDF - 172 KB] provides the legal basis for marine spatial planning in South Africa.

The National Framework on Marine Spatial Planning in South Africa provides guidance on MSP on the national level. It specifies the objectives of MSP and outlines the process.

The National Data and Information Report (NDIR) for Marine Spatial Planning provides the evidence base and knowledge collated by the National Working Group. It collects the spatial layers that are needed to embark on spatial planning.