For years the Cape Party has been a largely dormant force in the Western Cape, when there is a massive potential for them to grow. They are faced with numerous problems, two to be precise and there are four methods of how this can be rectified.
Credibility
First of all, the biggest and gravest threat to the Cape Party is one of credibility. A Cape of Good Hope is simply not seen as a realistic idea and there are two ways to combat the issue.
Firstly, there must be an active campaign to swing over the intellectuals, celebrities, and academia to their side. Nothing is ever done without the approval of some elites and that is lacking in this case. Hitler only rose after centuries of anti-semitism from European intellectuals. Lenin swept to power only after the teachings of Karl Marx were propagated from many squares in Russia and Brexit only happened after years of calls for independence and a rise in nationalism, mainly initiated by Margaret Thatcher on her way out.
What the Cape Party needs is endorsements from public figures. Right now, citizens might be concerned about the Cape Party, but if famous cricket players, professors, and figures in the public eye approve of the idea, and voice their approval, those reservations melt away. A prime example of this is when Peter de Villiers championed the Good Party. Once obtained, the Cape Party must stagger the announcements, to initiate momentum and promote a radical media campaign to ensure everyone becomes aware of their endorsements.
Secondly, the Cape Party must start promoting and encouraging the idea of Western Cape Separatism. This can be done by sporting a national anthem, producing a Cape flag, and organizing numerous events that create a groundswell of support for a separate country. Provide singers with funds or advertisements to produce Capetonian songs. The anniversary of the Groot Trek in 1938, was a powerful motivation for Afrikaner identity and proved pivotal for the eventual victory of the National Party in 1948. Camping trips can be organized to install a feeling of provincial pride, with Capetonian elements and in these expeditions, political issues can be discussed and even decided upon. Quasi shadow municipalities can start to form.
Strategy
Next up is the issue of strategy. One of the largest problems for the opposition in South Africa is the double-edged sword of the constant problems the ANC generates. Of course, being in the news constantly concerning mistakes on your part is not helpful, but at the same time, as demonstrated by Donald Trump, being constantly in the news also drowns out your opponents. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity. And so the ANC has remained largely in power by submerging South Africa in their squabbles, with the news crews largely ignoring the opposition to report on the latest bombshell produced by the ruling party.
This has led to not many citizens knowing about some of the opposition parties, let alone what they stand for. The answer to this is to largely ignore the ANC, who do not need help to tarnish their reputation and to focus on simple, easily explainable solutions and repeat it over and over. Message discipline is key here and every party member must follow the mantra for it to stick in the public’s minds. The EFF did very well as an example of this, taking the issue of land and drumming it over and over again, tactically using the SONA, to spread its message throughout South Africa.
In the intermittent term, with no real prospect of there being a referendum any time soon, the Cape Party can advocate that a vote for them is a safe deposit to do two things. First, act as a check on the DA in the Western Cape, as all parties that keep control eventually grow corrupt. Secondly, as a clear message and warning to the ANC that it should stop its leftist trajectory. The ANC might not care about a growing DA and laugh it off, knowing that they might never be a serious threat to them in the majority-black provinces. But a growing Cape Party will send their spines tingling and make them think twice about continuing with cadre deployment. Any independence or separate movement has always proved a massive thorn in the side of the government and the ANC might receive chills at the prospect that such an occurrence might arise in South Africa.
The answer to what the Cape Party’s long term message should be was provided to them on a plate by the DA. Desperate to retain their majority in the Western Cape, they flew in veteran political experts from the UK to advise them to do precisely this. Fresh from a campaign that focused on using fear-mongering tactics, the experts, probably after interviewing countless individuals, realized that their core message should be, “Vote for the DA, to keep an ANC-EFF coalition out.” Of course, polling data and proportional representation rendered that point farcical, but most Capetonians, not clued up by the political system, bought into this and diligently delivered their vote for the DA.
The power of fear is vital in such crucial and decisive elections and whoever controls that narrative, usually ekes out a win. In the Scottish Referendum, that rendering was controlled by the establishment and they sent out warning after warning of how damaging it would be to the Scots if they left the UK. With Brexit, the establishment met their match in the form of Dominic Cummings, the manager of the leave movement. He realized what they were planning on doing and so he decided to flip the tables on them. The leave campaign argued that it would be more dangerous to stay in the European Union than to leave it. They cited two main concerns of UK citizens over and over, which was the prospective entry of Turkey into the EU and the large bill paid each month to the institution. Their message of fear worked and UK citizens, in their fear of continued membership of the Union, voted to leave it.
With that in mind, the Cape Party’s message in South Africa is simple. A vote for the DA is a vote for an ANC-EFF coalition, as it only seeks to bring the ANC under 50% and their inevitable partners would be the EFF. This could dispel disaster for South Africa and the only way to stop this is for the Western Cape to break off from the Union. They must essentially convince Capetonians that there is no hope in South Africa and that it is time to have an amicable divorce. Hitler, was for example, very effective at convincing the Jews that they had no hope in his third Reich, which largely made them march without protest right into the gas chambers. These same Jews fought with fanaticism and passion for their home state of Israel, when they had regained hope. Hope is a powerful factor and a loss of such a thing in South Africa could easily work to the Cape Party’s favor.
Pursuing these ideals, the Cape Party might become a true force in South Africa and the instrument of separatism it desperately needs.
Donald Brown studied LLB at the University Of South Africa. But he is also a trader (forex/indices), programmer, author and entrepreneur. He spends his free time gaming, creating games and apps, writing and reading, with the latter two mostly devoted to political and philosophical issues. His books can be found here:
Cape Independence: A Roadmap to Liberty - Rational Standard
[…] a final message to the leaders of the secessionist movements: start working together. Compromise on your differences. Stop focusing on irrelevant policy issues. […]