It’s not hard to imagine that a referendum on Western Cape independence would be successful, says 200-year-old British political magazine The Spectator. It picks out highlights from a Victory Research poll indicating a small majority for independence among DA supporters.
It says there is provision for this in the Constitution, with Premier Alan Winde entitled to call for a referendum and the National Assembly to rule on the matter. The Spectator expects this idea of Cape independence to gather momentum along with dismay over poor handling by the ANC of the Covid-19 crisis and corruption – and a spreading fear SA is going to look like Zimbabwe.
The Spectator argues that, if secession occurs, it will be a result of coloured – not white – support. This is because they have been discriminated against by Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action policies. ‘If the ANC’s affirmative action aspirations were fully implemented in Scotland, as a point of comparison, the arrangement would lead to 90 percent of jobs in Scotland being held by English people, as 90 percent of UK citizens are English,’ it says.
The vigorous debate at the weekend on BizNews about Cape independence suggests The Spectator is on to something. The Cape – distinctly capitalist – would be ‘free to pursue its destiny’ just as Brexit has facilitated this move for the UK, is the message. Britain can support such a move, it says, as political boundaries were drawn up by by Downing St – not SA.
- Wexit – wacky or the way forward? Listen to this interview with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, and join the discussion, here: ‘We want out of SA’ – 36% in Western Cape want independence, says poll
PS: As always on a Monday, a new episode of the Ramaphosa biography is now available for your listening pleasure: https://iono.fm/c/5507.
The growing movement for Cape independence is no longer a fringe group – rightly or wrongly it is gaining traction on the ground. The DA will have to respond to it if they are not to lose more votes to this sentiment in their heartland. 🇿🇦
— Simon Grindrod (@SimonPGrindrod) September 12, 2020
Is Orania not land stolen by racists who don’t want blacks?
Cape Town is also getting slowly stolen by racists as they are already demanding Independence from South Africa.— Jay R- Black&Proud (@JayrRamatswana) September 10, 2020
I will rebuild the Western Cape Economy. People who want junk governance that brought them to junk obviously like junk. We in the Western Cape Don’t . We want independence from junk.
— Newfoodlab (@newfoodlab) September 9, 2020
Cape Independence would work fine in a Monty Python sketch. Disappointed that my favourite magazine @spectator took such nonsense seriously. https://t.co/WcfsA69RjE
— Emile Joubert (@emilejoubert) September 12, 2020
Hulle is dronk, they are settlers here they must go back home.
— SelfQuarantine Makhubela (@rakadimo24) September 11, 2020
