Watching Helen Zille speaking at a BizNews presentation a few days ago, one can’t help admiring the way she speaks, presents her case, and manages to come across as very logical, sensible, and easy to follow. Well done Helen Zille, BUT here’s the thing…
In a nutshell
Helen Zille has for a long time wanted, and still wants her ideas to materialise as she says. She admitted the DA’s “past fatal mistakes” in her presentation, such as forming coalitions with the EFF in recent years, and blaming these mistakes on those that have since defected to other parties. This however doesn’t mean that her idea is the one that would succeed. And this is the case, no matter how passionately she may want it to happen.
Quite the contrary: the likely result is a civil war, resulting in ’endgame Zimbabwe’, as described in a recent essay by Robert Duigan.
Helen’s plan or Zille’s folly?
Again, in another nutshell, the plan is for the DA to lead a political attack on the EFF and other smaller parties and then to form a coalition with the “good part” of the ANC, (Cyril Ramaphosa’s supporters), when the ANC finally splits apart.
Unfortunately, there is no “good part” of the ANC, as the corruption and cadre deployment run very deep within the ANC, right down to street level, as does the patronage network. These permeate every possible playing field. Oh, and pockets of mismanagement and corruption are not something the DA is exempt from either.
In short, the plan cannot work from the outset.
In another brilliant article by RW Johnson, recently published on Politicsweb, he explains quite clearly, and concludes as follows in his last paragraph;
“Helen Zille has clearly made up her mind to push for this strategy, indeed she makes no secret of the fact that this strategy is quite personal to her. But she is quite right to imagine that such a deal, if it did happen, would open up some very promising perspectives for reform. Ms. Zille tells us that she has been thinking about this strategy ever since 2013. But after all that time it looks very much as if she has come up with a strategy which seems bound to fail. There has to be a better way.”
The solution
Again, an extract ending a long but highly current and pertinent article by Robert Duigan is as follows;
“I am for Cape independence, it is no secret. And I don’t think it will be possible after five more years of demographic change, driven as it is by racial discrimination in the job market and by shack farming and land theft by the ANC. To work the miracles they need, the DA will need to centralise power so extremely, that federalism will become a thing of the past, and any failure will destroy the hopes of even regional autonomy.
“I implore you, to seize the opportunity now, for a chance to give the Coloured people not just a meaningless ballot, but real electoral power, a say in their future that matters. To give Afrikaners the possibility of a state that honours their language and culture, to Muslims, one that protects a 300-year harmony, a state that bears the marks of the best of English constitutionalism without its sinister leftward tendencies.
“This will bring a future for minorities who seek a future away from the foetid ruins of postcolonial Africa, and the greying edifices of the sterile and decadent West. A future in which the leftward tilt of history can be stopped, or even reversed, at least in one corner of this earth, will be worth it. A small, neutral country, on the furthest southern reaches, sipping the passing nectar of free ocean trade, aloof from the violence of world politics, with no mineral resource to be envied, and no ties to great powers or old blood feuds.
“A free Cape.”
Surely, the people of the Western Cape who desperately want the DA to hold a Western Cape Referendum on seceding from the Republic of South Africa as soon as possible, in accordance with article 235 of the South African Constitution, can no longer be ignored by Helen Zille and the DA?
There are already close to 1 million verifiable registered mandates (824 508 to be exact) and the number is growing daily, from ordinary citizens regardless of race, religion or political preference. These mandates from people wanting independence are being collated on the central registry for support by Capexit.org. The DA is not only ignoring the “will of the people” of the Western Cape. It is in fact, also ignoring the will of at least 65% of its own supporters in the Western Cape. An independent poll conducted by Victory Research last year gave us that figure, and Helen Zille knows it, as does the leadership of the DA.
The consequences for the DA are predictable and dire if it doesn’t reconsider quickly and carefully.
This is far more than just Helen’s Folly.
The views of the writer are not necessarily the views of the Daily Friend or the IRR
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