Just Access: The Real Transition - Episode 4: Governing the Ground

Описание: Just Access: The Real Transition is a 10-part podcast series from PARI (the Public Affairs Research Institute) exploring what a truly just transition means for South Africa — not only in energy policy, but in access to land, water, power, decision-making and economic opportunity.

Episode 4 moves the conversation from national debates to the level where the transition becomes real: local government.

As climate change, renewable energy development, and settlement pressures intensify, municipalities are increasingly responsible for decisions about how land is allocated, governed and used. These decisions determine where infrastructure is built, where communities can live, and who benefits from new development. Yet many municipalities are navigating these pressures using planning systems and institutional arrangements that were not designed for the demands of the energy transition.

In this episode, Tasneem Essop speaks again with Dr Gaynor Paradza and Daniel Sher from PARI’s land governance programme about the practical realities municipalities face when managing land in a rapidly changing environment.

The conversation reveals how land allocation often still follows an economic logic — where land goes to the highest bidder — even though land also plays a crucial role in addressing South Africa’s deep spatial inequalities. Without deliberate social considerations, this approach risks reproducing the same patterns of exclusion that shaped the country’s past.

Municipalities also face structural constraints. Many local governments control only a small portion of the land within their own boundaries, while large areas remain under the authority of provincial departments, national government entities, or private owners. Transferring land between these entities can be slow and bureaucratic, making it difficult for municipalities to unlock land for housing, renewable energy projects, or climate adaptation initiatives.

At the same time, new forms of development linked to the transition — from renewable energy infrastructure to climate resilience planning — are emerging faster than planning frameworks can adapt. Officials are often forced to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, while struggling with incomplete information about land rights, especially where those rights exist outside the formal property system.

Despite these challenges, there are early signs of experimentation and collaboration, including new efforts to support municipal climate planning and initiatives that provide communities with access to land for local livelihoods.

Episode 4 argues that the energy transition cannot succeed without addressing these governance realities. Climate mitigation, adaptation and development all happen on land, and municipalities sit at the front line of these decisions. A truly just transition will depend not only on national policy, but on whether local institutions have the capacity, authority and tools to govern land fairly.

Subscribe to follow the full series, and to learn more about PARI and their research, visit www.pari.org.za