Should the Western Cape become an independent country?
Our campaign for an independence referendum
The Cape is at a crossroads. Either we choose prosperity or decline.
South Africa has been enduring decades of decline, with crime and unemployment surging year on year in our towns and cities.
Our energy grid? Collapsed. Our police force? Collapsed Our infrastructure? Collapsed
In 2024, this decline will likely accelerate to the point of no return, with South Africa becoming the next Zimbabwe - albeit on far larger scale.
More unemployment, more lawlessness and the complete breakdown of race relations awaits the Cape if we do not play our cards right.
It's now or never.
A Cape independence referendum is not a nicety. It is a necessity for our survival.
The major political parties talk about a "Moonshot Pact" saving South Africa in 2024. In 2019, the African nationalist parties got nearly 70% of the vote, while the parties of Western values got 30%.
A Cape independence referendum is the Western Cape's insurance policy for its survival against the likely ANC/EFF coalition that will form after the 2024 elections.
Self-determination
“In its essence, the right of self-determination means that individuals and peoples should be in control of their destinies and should be able to live out their identities, whether within the boundaries of existing States or through independence. More than an outcome, self-determination should be seen as a process subject to revision and adjustment, and its outcome must correspond to the free and voluntary choice of the peoples concerned, within a framework of human rights protection and non-discrimination.”
2014 report (A/69/272) to the General Assembly of the United Nations
Alan Winde is failing on delivering his devolution promises
In the 2019 election campaign, Alan Winde promised the Western Cape people the devolution of power over many functions of governance, because he knew that this would improve the lives of our people.
On this basis, the people of the Western Cape elected him. However, since his election, his requests for additional powers have been consistently rejected by the national government.
Devolution of power is a form of self-determination. The ANC's rejection of devolution, is the rejection of our democratic right to self-determination.
Cape independence is not just a viable solution, it is the only solution.
Cape independence would grant the Western Cape people the ultimate self-determination.
It would allow the Western Cape to take control of powers in the areas that Alan Winde has promised us.
It will enable us to take control of policing and railways. Do away with the racist and destructive policies of race-based affirmative action. Put us in charge of our own borders and allow us to finally put a stop to illegal land invasions, which is causing untold damage to Western Cape society.
It will give us the ultimate power to chart our own course and write our own history.
Cape independence is a choice for the people, not for Alan Winde
58% of Western Cape voters are in favour of a Cape independence referendum according to a 2021 poll conducted by Victory Research.
Before the 2021 elections, the DA agreed that Cape independence was an issue that Western Cape voters should be able to democratically determine for themselves. This coincided with the DA stating their intention to fix the national referendum legislation, in order to empower the Premier to call referendums. Subsequently, during the public participation for the proposed bill, Parliament was inundated with comments in support for the change.
Unfortunately, despite it being 2 years since the bill being tabled, little progress has been made.
The DA is undermining the Western Cape's right to self-determination.
Alan Winde has the right to call a referendum. Now he needs the courage.
The Premier's right to call a referendum is enshrined in both Section 127(2)(f) of the South African Constitution and section 37(2)(f) of the Western Cape Constitution.
Despite the fact that the DA has not passed their promised referendum legislation, Winde still has the power to call a referendum.
In line with his constitutional right to call a referendum and the national legislation regulating referendums in the Referendum Act 1983, the Premier can request and require the President to call a referendum in the Western Cape on his behalf.
Alan Winde has the power to get the ball rolling. The question is: does he have the courage?
Alan Winde's primary duty is to protect the Western Cape people, not all of South Africa
Section 81 of the Western Cape Constitution requires the Premier ‘adopt and implement policies to actively promote and maintain the welfare of the people of the Western Cape’.
The DA have admitted the existing terrible circumstances will be worsened by an ANC/EFF government after 2024. Therefore, Winde should allow the Western Cape people to exercise their right to self-determination, in order to secure their welfare.
As a clear majority of the Western Cape already support an independence referendum, the Premier has an obligation to call one.
Winde is the Premier of the Western Cape and was given the job on the basis that he will stand up for the province's interests. By priotising what's best for South Africa rather than whats best for the Western Cape, he is abusing his position.
A vote for "yes" in a referendum would be impossible for anyone to ignore
Often critics (and in particular Alan Winde) claim that a referendum on Cape independence would be non-binding, however both the supreme courts of Canada and the United Kingdom have ruled that in a democracy, the state cannot simply ignore the outcome of an independence referendum.
Paragraph 149 of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on Quebec (1996) sets out in significant detail the obligations of both the state and the territory wishing to secede and outlines the process through which independence should subsequently be negotiated.
In reaching its findings, the Canadian court invited many of the world’s foremost experts on international law to address the court. In doing so it established a powerful legal precedent that would be hard for the South African Constitutional Court to ignore.