CAPE PARTY

Cape Party - Free The Cape

1 week ago

***What will become of South Africa's Minorities?***

In his column in the Financial Mail, DA MP Zakhele Mbhele states "If we wait for the ideal black liberal-democratic party to magically appear, we'll be waiting forever - and SA will be a failed state by then"

This is a fact which continues to elude South African columnists, intellectuals and academics. Herman Mashaba and Mmusi Maimane continue to be the poster children for these who naively believe that educated western-minded black politicians who rose through the DA ranks, have enough credibility to draw votes from traditional ANC voters.

While this latest episode of political day dreaming takes place, the big elephant in the room which no one dares mention is the fate that awaits minorities in South Africa when it unravels.

The South African constitution makes no special provision for minority representation either in government or parliament. In this regard the constitution pretends that South Africa is one homogeneous country with no ethnic, racial or cultural diversity. Nor does it account for regional differences such as giving extra powers to provinces such as the Western Cape or KZN. The constitution is so heavily centralized that a province scarely has the power to declare a dispute with national government. One of the reasons why the Western Cape was not able to access the courts to get extra funding for relief efforts during the 2017/2018 drought was because it is prevented from initiating an intergovernmental dispute by the constitutional principle of "cooperative governance" . It was left to the Cape Party to launch an interdict to compel national government to declare a state of disaster over the drought.

The province effectively has very little power and premiers are bound by collective responsibility to effectively carry out the wishes of the national government and national policy. In the Western Cape, we are electing the DA not to carry out our wishes, but rather to do a better job of doing what the ANC wishes. In other words, Don't celebrate the next time you vote DA to keep the ANC out.

What then of minority groups? South Africa's minority groups live here with no special representation or guarantees from the constitution or the international community. They exist as a stateless people, powerless here to the whims of the majority who play host and tolerate them as long as it remains convenient. Expropriation without Compensation (EWC) will not be a media headline under Presidents Mabuza and Malema, and EWC is a sign that the hosts are ready to make moves on their guests.

For how long still will minorities remain blinded to the fate which awaits them? Cape Independence was derided, scoffed at, and demonized back in 2009 when the Cape Party alone championed this cause. The Party's brave and often lonely stand has paved the way for the only workable solution for South Africa's stateless minorities. ... See MoreSee Less

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Cape Party - Free The Cape

1 week ago

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