ActionSA National Chairperson Michael Beaumont says his organization has rejected a proposal by the Cape Referendum Party to join the Multi-Party Charter for South Africa (MPC).
According to Beaumont, the request by the Referendum Party was tabled on Thursday night at a meeting of the Multi-Party Charter, comprised of the DA, IFP, FF Plus, ACDP, UIM, SNP, as well as ActionSA.
ActionSA informed the MPC that it was not willing to be associated with the Referendum Party that seeks secession from South Africa.
“ActionSA would sooner leave the MPC rather than being associated with the Cape Independence movement. We were pleased that we did not stand alone in this position and, because the Charter operates by consensus, the application of the Referendum Party was rejected,” Beaumont said.
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The Cape Referendum Party claims to be a single-issue political party. It exists with only one purpose; to force Western Cape Premier Alan Winde to listen to its call for a referendum on Cape Independence.
It has also made it clear that it abhors the governing African National Congress (ANC) and that there are no possible circumstances under which a vote for it will allow the ANC to take over the Western Cape.
“A vote for the Referendum Party will be a vote for a DA-led Western Cape. In all circumstances we promise to vote with the DA to form a government, and against the ANC,” its manifesto states.
In light of that, ActionSA believes the Referendum Party’s values are fundamentally wrong and incongruent with the Multi-Party Charter.
“The notion of the Western Cape seceding from the Republic of South Africa is constitutionally offensive, exclusionary, and based on the absurd notion that the Western Cape is economically, historically or socially distinct from the rest of South Africa. Given the rich history of South Africa’s development as a nation, any claim to Cape independence is offensive.
“The idea of Cape Independence is motivated by a misplaced view of Western Cape exceptionalism and a dislike of the ANC rather than by the merits of a claim to independence under International Law,” ActionSA argued.
