Community television fits in directly with the government's Reconstruction and Development Programme in that it is development that is community driven and controlled. Community broadcasting goes a step further than public broadcasting in that it recognises the central role of communities, at the local level, in owning and controlling the broadcast medium, unlocking resources, building partnerships between role players, effective delivery mechanisms and properly assessing diverse needs within communities. Community television is the RDP of the broadcasting sector. Redressing the imbalance of the legacy of apartheid has to be the first consideration in any movement toward the development of community television in South Africa. This will include human resource development for the broadcasting sector as a whole in a way that promotes an upward flow from communities to the public and private sector.
Community television stands to play an important role in a broader developmental sense.
The government's RDP recognises that information and an informed population will be vital to the success of the programme. Equally important will be people's ability to engage in dialogue about community approaches and solutions to the fundamental challenges still confronting the majority of South Africans. If people don't have effective means to express their needs, they won't have effective control over the development process. In a largely illiterate society, broadcasting has a critical role to play in the development of a participatory democracy. There is no guarantee that access to video and broadcast technologies contributes to a participatory democracy.