It’s been a significant week for the Cape independence movement which – only a few months ago – was perceived as a pipe dream. Earlier this week, Phil Craig, the co-founder of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG), told BizNews founder Alec Hogg that the Group had formally handed over a request for a referendum on Cape independence. Craig added that, as it stood, the Democratic Alliance did not support Cape independence but that ‘it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult for the DA to not call a referendum on independence.’ According to this CIAG press release, the DA is officially one of the eight political parties in the Western Cape that would support a referendum on Cape independence. – Nadya Swart
Watershed moment for Cape Independence and the unitary state
From The Cape Independence Advocacy Group
Ahead of the Local Government Elections (LGE) eight political parties, including the DA, the party of provincial government in the Western Cape, have now confirmed that they are willing to support a referendum on Cape Independence.
The dam-wall has finally burst. Political parties in the Western Cape have called time on a corrupt and incompetent central government abusing its power to enrich a small political elite whilst unemployment and poverty envelops the people they were elected to serve.
The ANC has now governed South Africa for 27 years, yet most Western Cape voters have never voted for them. The Western Cape did not vote the ANC into power, and it has no viable mechanism by which to vote them out. The ANC is forcing down policies onto the Western Cape against its will, despite only having 28.6% of the provincial vote.
Phil Craig, spokesperson for the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) said: “We are delighted. This is a victory, not just for the people of the Western Cape, but for ordinary South African’s everywhere. Over the last 18 months there has been an awakening, people have simply had enough. As the state fails to fulfil its most basic duties, organisations are stepping into the void. In the Western Cape we can sever ties completely with the ANC national government and claim the right to elect a government of our own choosing, a government that will spend tax revenue on citizens rather than themselves.”
The level of support amongst political parties became apparent when the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) and civic organisation CapeXit began jointly compiling a voting guide for the upcoming elections. Representatives of the groups contacted all the main political parties to establish their position on Cape Independence, and then, regardless of that position, whether they would support a referendum on Cape Independence. The voting guide will be made available to the estimated 1.4m Western Cape voters who support Cape Independence.
“Whilst we recognise that not every party who supports a referendum on Cape Independence will support secession, we wish to thank and applaud them for respecting the basic principles of democracy, that the people themselves must decide.”
Interestingly, the ANC acknowledged that referendums are “constitutional imperatives” but stated that there were no “democratic wishes of the Western Cape people” but only the “democratic wishes of the South African people”, and as such all South Africans should participate in the event of a referendum.
The parties who said they would support a referendum on Cape Independence are:
- African Christian Democratic Party
- Cape Coloured Congress
- Cape Independence Party
- Cope
- Democratic Alliance
- Karoo Ontwikkeling Party
- United Independent Movement
- Freedom Front Plus
Read also:
- ‘A referendum is now inevitable’ – Phil Craig on Cape independence
- “It’s blindly obvious to everyone living in the Cape that there’s no future for SA” – Jack Miller
- 58% of people in the Western Cape want a referendum on Cape independence – Phil Craig
