BEATING THE PARTICIPATION TRAP. ENSURING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES: A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

The transition to democracy in South Africa brought many perceived 'new' opportunities of reconstruction and development for the formerly disenfranchized black majority. Increased participation in the development process through local community empowerment was promoted, and was implemented through the establishment of local Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) forums. The RDP forums (members drawn from all the community-base organizations, political parties and other established civil organizations) were charged with the task of identifying and prioritizing the needs of the 'community' and also to make decisions on the allocation of resources to meet the identified needs. It is argued here that because of the variety of different interests represented on these forums, it became a difficult and intricate process to reach a consensus on sensitive issues such as prioritizing the allocation of scarce resources. Furthermore, by assuming functions formerly the responsibility of local authorities, the role of the latter became unclear. It is concluded that for reconstruction and development (the delivery of essential goods and services) to affect the lives of the poor and marginalized communities, it is imperative that the processes are initially driven by the national or regional RDP department, through local government structures, and not through civil society organizations such as RDP forums.