Are you one of us?
Cape Independence is a decision. It is a decision that the values of South Africa are no longer your values.
It is a recognition that whilst the voters of South Africa are entitled to elect the government of their choice, time and time again you would make a different choice. It is a recognition that the majority of people living in the Western Cape agree with you. It is a recognition that if we as a province could elect our own national government, our lives, and the lives of those around us, would significantly improve.
The legal basis of Cape Independence is slightly different. It is based on the right to self-determination which South Africa has sworn to uphold.
Self-determination is not a right which applies to individuals, it is a group right. “All peoples have the right to self-determination.”
One question unites the personal and the legal aspects of Cape Independence; ‘Is there a Western Cape People, and if there is, who are they?’
The legal question is relatively simple to answer, and you can read the full description here. The short answer is that the people of the Western Cape are a people if they want to be.
Who are the Western Cape People?
Many of the questions we receive at the CIAG are about how Cape Independence affects people personally. Do I quality? Does Cape Independence include people of all races?
For the purposes of determining whether the Western Cape supports Cape Independence (breaking away from South Africa and creating a new independent sovereign state) the people of the Western Cape will be defined as those who are legally registered with the IEC to vote. That is, they are on the Western Cape electoral roll.
In the broader context, the Western Cape people share cultural, linguistic, economic, ideological, territorial, and historical connections. This does not mean we are all homogenous, the Western Cape people are multi-cultural. Over time many of these cultures have become inexorably interwoven, others remain more distinct.
We are community of immigrants. The indigenous people of the province were the Khoi Khoi and the San. Successive waves of migrants, including the Dutch, Malay, French, German, British, and Xhosa, intermingled with the indigenous peoples. Many developed the Afrikaans language which is native to the Western Cape. Migration continues to this day as people move to the Western Cape, from within South Africa and from without, seeking a better life for themselves and their families.
The Western Cape has officially recognised three of South Africa’s eleven languages, English, Afrikaans, and isiXhosa.
We are ‘coloured’, black, and white. We are Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. We are the Western Cape People.
Collectively, since 1994, at every single election, we have made it clear that we hold different political and ideological views from the rest of South Africa.
The values we have voted for include non-racialism, law and order, clean government, service delivery, a social free market, multi-culturalism, a western society, the protection of minority rights, and equal opportunities.
It’s time to be governed according to OUR democratic will, not someone else’s.
