The limits and possibilities of local initiatives for change: the case for participatory planning

Abstract

This article explores three possible avenues at the local level for political restructuring towards non‐racialism in South Africa. These are: government‐created multi‐racial bodies (like regional services councils), locally‐initiated negotiations between representative white local authorities and popular township organisations (like the East London case in 1986), and locally‐initiated participatory planning exercises (such as Pieter‐maritzburg 2000). The conclusions are nuanced, pointing at both possibilities and shortcomings in all three cases. Regional services councils do offer avenues to white leaders for reformist political action, but their government origin and racial premises obstruct a wider political credibility. Local political initiatives can address many important political issues, yet they run the risk of being unacceptable to the central government and white local voters. Participatory planning exercises at the local level would offer opportunities to focus on less overtly politicised matters, yet to engage a broad spectrum of interest groups from communities in strategic planning. This article suggests that the latter approach offers more strategic possibilities than the two avenues which are based on representative institutions, provided that participatory planning takes full account of the delicate political context within which it is being undertaken.