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public participation — English
The inclusion of the public in the decision-making about a proposed development or project that might have a significant impact on the environment. The integrated environmental management (IEM) procedure provides for public participation in decision-making, and the South African environmental legislation (see “environmental management”) makes public participation an essential prerequisite for permission to execute a development project. Consequently all interested and affected parties (IAPs) have to be consulted before proceeding with a development project. By law, the proposer of a project has to inform the local and the wider public about the proposal, then meet with all IAPs, explain the details of the project to them, and take their views into account in the proposal that is eventually submitted to the authorities for permission to proceed. Dozens of proposed projects in South Africa have been turned down or significantly altered because the public have not been satisfactorily consulted or informed. In fact, this is one of the most effective aspects in the South African environmental management system.
