Several pro-independence movements campaigning ahead of South Africa’s May 29 general election are calling for “CapeXit” i.e., exit of the province of Western Cape from the South African government, while the provincial government is arguing for more power. Activists from the Referendum Party (RP) protested recently saying “It’s Now, or Never,” holding signs and banners in Afrikaans, the local mother tongue.
The RP and the Cape Independence Party are seeking the support of at least 1.6 million people to reach their ultimate goal: “Independence from South Africa.” The region is the country’s second-largest contributor to national GDP.
The Western Cape region of South Africa has the most ethnically diverse population of all nine of South Africa’s provinces. Blacks, whites, “coloreds,” Malays (Muslims whose lingua franca was originally Malay, hence the name), and Asians have all have made this province their home, with no group being a clear majority. Many foreigners — both legal and illegal immigrants — including Congolese guards, Zimbabwean nurses, Somali drivers, Dutch pensioners and British expatriates also live here.
Politically, the Cape is an exception: it is the only province governed not by the African National Congress (ANC), the party of the late Nelson Mandela, now riddled with corruption, but by the Democratic Alliance (DA), an offshoot of the former white anti-apartheid party known as the Democratic Party.
This region, despite its riches and beautiful landscapes that bring millions of tourists every year, and the existence of six main dams, but still when there’s enough power, water is pumped to the top.
The region’s dams aren’t exactly environmentally friendly, but they do help solve one of the country’s biggest problems: load shedding (temporary, localized power cuts) to alleviate the effects of electricity shortages. During power cuts, which occur at regular intervals in South Africa, the water is pumped through to a hydroelectric power station below.
RP argues that the party in power is making South Africa a “failed state.” The country’s economy has been stagnant for over a decade, electricity, and water supplies are no longer reliable, chronic poverty is rampant with high unemployment (32%) and crime.
RP party member Robert King told the French newspaper “Le Monde” recently that the South African constitution and international laws would favor the independance. As a country, Western Cape’s small size would not be a disadvantage, he suggested, comparing it to the standard of living in Switzerland, Luxembourg, or Monaco.
“And no, the independentists don’t want to recreate a second Orania,” named after the white Afrikaner commune in the center of the country, he added.
The Founder of CapeXit NGO, Des Palm, told Le Monde, “We want Western Cape independence for everyone who lives in it, it’s got nothing to do with race.”
CapeXit, founded in 2007, has more than 840,000 members, and it indicates that the black population would represent 39% of the new country’s inhabitants, whereas nationwide in South Africa, 82% of South Africans are black.
CapeXit has just two seats out of 231 on the Cape Town City Council. The movement has also help to gather the 7,000 signatures required for the forthcoming elections.
Last year, a poll showed that 68% of the province’s voters favor an independence referendum, and more than half would vote in favor.
However, the pro-independence movement may find its aspirations echoed in the proposals of the DA, which recently tabled a text calling for greater powers for provincial authorities, angering the ANC.
While South Africa is ignoring “the separatist” movement inside its own territory, and turning a blind eye to its ally Algeria’s suffocation of the Movement for Self-Determination of Kabylia that is seeking self-determination. It never misses an opportunity to undermine Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, and provide its full support, financially and militarily, for the Polisario separatist militia that is playing an oversized role in destabilizing North Africa and the Sahel region.