Corné Mulder, one of the senior MPs for the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), has come out in support of independence for the Western Cape.
Although seen by many as a fringe movement led by crackpots, the notion of Western Cape independence is increasingly moving into the mainstream, with a recent poll showing a large minority of Western Cape residents backing possible self-determination.
Mulder was speaking at the Cape Town Press Club earlier this week, where he suggested that the province should consider independence, saying: ‘In the long run, an independent Western Cape is where our future lies.’
In his address Mulder said the dream of the Rainbow Nation was dead. Without independence the people of the Western Cape would ‘be sentenced to lifelong imprisonment in an open democracy within an arbitrary colonial construct, where a majority will continue to dominate minorities.’
The governing party in the province, the Democratic Alliance, has been lukewarm about the idea, but if it is proven that there is enough popular support, the party could be forced to make a strong stand on the issue, either way.
A number of independence movements have gained prominence around the world recently, with the examples of Scotland in Britain and Catalonia in Spain coming to mind.