Western Cape Self-Determination More Important Now Than Ever
Joint statement by: Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) and Referendum Party (RP)
Date: 14 June 2024
Release: Immediate
A national coalition government dominated by the ANC is not in the best interests of the Western Cape people. Eight out of ten Western Cape voters have rejected the ANC, and the majority have never once voted for them throughout the entire democratic era.
There can be no doubt whatsoever (based on the relative performance of the provincial governments which they have elected) that were the Western Cape people to be governed according to their democratic will, that their quality of life would materially improve. Instead, they will once again be subjected to the democratic will of voters in the rest of South Africa who hold fundamentally differing political views.
RP Leader and CIAG co-founder, Phil Craig says, “Western Cape voters have been deliberately misled in this election campaign. They were told that if they voted for the Multi-Party Charter they could remove the ANC from power once and for all, and that South Africa could then be governed by what in effect would be a centre-right coalition. Now their votes are being used to return the ANC to power rather than to remove it.”
The Multi-Party Charter (MPC) has failed to deliver a national government which represents the democratic will of the Western Cape people, and it is once again clear that the Western Cape people have no foreseeable prospect of ever being governed according to their democratic will. Now the DA-led Western Cape Government has a moral duty to consult the Western Cape people and to ask them whether or not they wish to formally exercise their right to self-determination.
Craig says, ”Whether we agree with it or not, the DA are now part of the national government. We believe Cape Independence is the only viable long-term solution for the Western Cape, but if the DA genuinely believe that their stated policy of federalism is the solution, then they must now actually try to deliver it. They must do more than just prop up the regime they promised voters they would remove. A provincial referendum is now essential.”
