PRESS RELEASE: Western Cape exercises self-determination again.
The Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) notes with great interest Premier Alan Winde’s statement that, should Russian President Vladimir Putin visit the Western Cape, provincial LEAP officers will enforce the ICC’s warrant of arrest for Putin if SAPS, who are under the control of the national government, will not.
This is the second time that Winde has directly challenged the sovereign authority of the South African national government. In March 2022, the Premier banned Russian diplomats from Western Cape Government functions and entered into unauthorised diplomatic relations with the Ukrainian Government.
The premier is exercising, de-facto, Western Cape self-determination.
Self-determination is an ‘undeniable and inalienable’ right which South Africa has repeatedly sworn to uphold, and which allows groups of people to control (determine) their own destiny. It can be exercised in the form of devolution (autonomy), federalism, or independence. It would be wrong to view these forms of self-determination as competing ideologies. They are simply different applications of the same fundamental right.
In the case of the Western Cape, devolution has been openly pursued for years but without any significant success. That is because devolution requires the willing consent of the national government, and the South African Government has no intention of granting it.
As conditions worsen in South Africa, and as the ideological rift between the Western Cape and many parts of South Africa widens, the pursuit of Western Cape self-determination will become increasingly strident.
DATE: 2pril 2023
FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES CONTACT:
Phil Craig
