Online launch of the Referendum Party
Date: Thursday, 9 November 2023
Time: 10:30
Venue: Unit E7, The Old Tannery, Wellington (limited space, please confirm if attending)
Online link: https://youtube.com/live/l7SCp-3C3OE (live stream)
In a democracy, you cannot hide from the will of the people. Polling* has consistently established that a clear majority of Western Cape voters support a referendum being held on Cape Independence. The most recent poll, in August 2023, put support at 68%.
Before the 2021 local elections, DA leader John Steenhuisen personally promised the CIAG that his party would call a referendum in the Western Cape which included a question on Cape Independence. On October 10th,in response to a call for a referendum signed by over 30 000 Western Cape voters, DA Premier Alan Winde confirmed that his party was going to renege on this agreement.
The Referendum Party will now ask Western Cape voters who support a referendum to vote for the Party to force Premier Winde to listen to the Western Cape people he was elected to serve.
Referendum Party leader, Phil Craig, says, “It is disappointing that the DA would break their word and ignore the will of the Western Cape people on this issue, but what needs to be done is now clear. If people want a referendum to be held on Cape Independence, then in2024, they are going to have to vote for a referendum on Cape Independence.”
The party will focus its messaging on the consequences of denying the Western Cape a referendum, and the fact that the current system of government leaves the Western Cape powerless to deal with the critical issues of governance.
A key party slogan will be, ‘A DA-led government in Cape Town isn’t going to save you, if an ANC government in Pretoria is making all of the key decisions.’
The Western Cape has no control of economic policy, policing, taxation, or its borders. As a result, the province has 25% unemployment, the highest murder rate in the world, subsidises ANC corruption and incompetence in the rest of South Africa, and is under siege from illegal land invaders who are denying legal residents resources.
The DA-led Western Cape Government doesn’t have to like Cape Independence, but if the DA truly is a democratic party, then it does need to ask voters what it is that they want. As things stand now, Premier Winde is a roadblock to democracy.
Craig says the party is targeting 100 000 votes which it calculates will be sufficient to force a Cape Independence referendum.
*Polling conducted by Victory Research on behalf of the CIAG
DATE: 3 November 2023
