The South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Act, 1998 (Act No. 7 of 1998)Chapter 5 : Official Policies on, and Declaration, Use and Protection of, National Roads48. Structures and other works on, over or below national roads or certain other land |
| (1) | Except as provided in subsection (2), no person may do any of the following things without the Agency’s written permission or contrary to that permission, namely— |
| (a) | on or over, or below the surface of, a national road or land in a building restriction area, erect, construct or lay, or establish any structure or other thing (including anything which is attached to the land on which it stands even though it does not form part of that land); |
| (b) | make any structural alteration or addition to a structure or that other thing situated on or over, or below the surface of, a national road or land in a building restriction area; |
| (c) | give permission for erecting, constructing, laying or establishing any structure or that other thing on or over, or below the surface of, a national road or land in a building restriction area, or for any structural alteration or addition to any structure or other thing so situated. |
| (2) | Subject to any condition imposed under section 49(3)(a)(iii) or (iv), the provisions of subsection (1), except in so far as they prohibit the erection, construction, laying or establishment of a structure or other thing on or over, or below the surface of, a national road, do not apply to— |
| (a) | a structure erected or constructed by the South African Rail Commuter Corporation Limited on land under its control; |
| (b) | any dwelling on a farm and any other structure on a farm used only for farming operations in the true sense. |
| (3) |
| (a) | The Agency, in its discretion, may give or refuse its permission in terms of subsection (1). |
| (b) | When giving permission, the Agency may prescribe— |
| (i) | the specifications to which the structure, other thing, alteration or addition for which permission is asked, must comply; |
| (ii) | the manner and circumstances in which, the place where and the conditions on which the structure, other thing, alteration or addition may be erected, constructed, laid, established or made; and |
| (iii) | the obligations to be fulfilled by the owner of the land in question if the structure, other thing, alteration or addition is erected, constructed, laid, established or made. |
| (4) |
| (a) | If an obligation to remove a structure or other thing is prescribed by a condition imposed under subsection (3)(b), the Registrar of Deeds having jurisdiction in respect of the area concerned must, at the written request of the Agency, note the obligation on the title deed of the land affected thereby and in the appropriate register kept by that Registrar. |
| (b) | The costs in connection with that noting must be paid by the person to whom the permission has been given. |
| (c) | The Agency may enforce compliance with an obligation that has been so noted. |
| (d) | The provisions of section 49(6)(a) and (b), reading in the changes necessary in the context, will apply to an obligation so noted. |
| (5) | Where a person without the permission required by subsection (1) or contrary to any permission given thereunder, has erected, constructed, laid or established a structure or other thing or has made a structural alteration or addition to a structure or other thing or given permission therefor, the Agency by notice in writing may direct that person to remove the unauthorised structure, other thing, alteration or addition within a reasonable period which must be stated in the notice but which may not be shorter than 30 days calculated from the date of the notice. |
| (6) | If the person to whom a notice has been issued in terms of subsection (5), fails to remove the structure, other thing, alteration or addition mentioned in the notice, within the period stated therein, it may be removed by the Agency itself which may recover the costs of the removal from that person. |
| (7) |
| (a) | Despite the provisions of any other law, the Agency may remove or shift, to a place determined by it, any structure or other thing (except a structure or thing mentioned in subsection (2)) which, before the date on which the road or route concerned is declared a national road in terms of section 40 or was declared a national road under the previous Act, was erected, constructed, laid or established on or over, or below the surface of— |
| (i) | that national road; |
| (ii) | land in a building restriction area; or |
| (iii) | other land situated within a distance from that national road as specified in a condition imposed under section 49(3)(a)(iv). |
| (b) | In the case of a power line or telephone line, any sewage disposal works or water reticulation, supply or disposal works or other works so erected, constructed, laid or established subject to a condition, imposed under any law, in terms of which any other person is responsible for the removal or shifting thereof, the Agency may recover the costs of the removal or shifting from that other person. |
| (8) | Any person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not longer than one year, or a fine, or to both the term of imprisonment and the fine. |