Cape independence is a ‘pipe dream’ not even the DA could support

The idea of independence for the Western Cape is a pipe dream and will not fly, because none of the bigger parties support it, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), says analyst Daniel Silke.

“I think this is a non-starter from a political point of view, it’s pie in the sky for those who believe in Cape independence,” Silke said.

‘Independence’

The Cape Independence Party has hyped its call for independence for the Western Cape. The party’s spokesperson, Phil Craig, told Alec Hogg’s Biznews channel it would submit a Bill in the Western Cape legislature calling for autonomy for the Western Cape.

Craig said this was achievable without seeking permission from the national government, as the Western Cape already had its own constitution.

The party was established to lobby for independence for the Western Cape and has been pushing the issue for the a number of years.

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‘More fringe circles’

Silke said the issue remained as a debate in the “more fringe circles” of the political establishment in the Western Cape because “none of the political parties, including the DA, would support it, although it enjoyed some sympathies among many parties represented in the Western Cape legislature”.

Silke said a strongly held official view was that South Africa was a unitary state and there was no countenance of going it alone or declaring some sort of unilateral declaration of independence in the province.

Certainly, the idea wouldn’t carry substantive weight with the DA – the majority party there – which was opposed to Cape independence.

The DA advocated for autonomy, including developing a regulatory framework in provinces with the collection of their own taxes and generating their own electricity, among others.

It would not advocate for its decoupling from the rest of South Africa. “No such Bill would fly in the Western Cape parliament, there is no member of the Cape Independence Party represented in that parliament, therefore it’s simply not possible for them to introduce a Bill.

They may well get some support from some parties, like the Freedom Front Plus, through which the idea may channeled.”

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