Referendum Party Manifesto

Download a PDF version of our manifesto here.

Our Purpose‍

‍The Referendum Party is a single-issue political party. Our mission is to force the Western Cape Premier to call a referendum on Cape Independence which 68% of the Western Cape people support.‍

Our goal is not to remove the DA from government in the Western Cape, but to make it listen to the Western Cape people. Accordingly, when it comes to forming a Western Cape Government, we will support the DA and oppose the ANC so that there are no possible circumstances under which a vote for the Referendum Party can result in the ANC returning to power in the province.

Without Cape Independence the Western Cape will share South Africa’s fate within a decade. A vote for the Referendum Party is a vote for Cape Independence.

Our Values‍

RP is committed to the legal and peaceful pursuit of a non-racial independent Western Cape based upon the democratic will of the Western Cape people. International law is unequivocal, ‘All people have the right to self-determination’, and this right is inalienable and unquestionable. By virtue of three separate international treaties that South Africa has signed and ratified since 1994, the right of self-determination is law in the Republic.

Self-determination exercised in the form of Cape Independence will create a safer and more prosperous future for all of the people of the Western Cape, regardless of their race, religion, and culture.

Why vote RP?

The Western Cape will choose between two very different futures on May 29th.

Vote DA for future #1 - Failed state

If you vote DA, you will not get a referendum on Cape Independence. As a result, an ANC-led national government will continue to make all the important policy decisions affecting the Western Cape.

Without control of our economy, one in four people will remain unemployed. Without control of our policing, the Western Cape’s murder rate will remain the highest in the world. Without control of taxation, we will continue to subsidise incompetence and corruption in the rest of South Africa. Without control of the Western Cape’s borders, widespread illegal land invasions will continue.

The Western Cape will not be able to escape the consequences of poor national government and sooner rather than later it will share the same fate as the rest of South Africa - it will become a failed state.

Vote RP for future #2 - First-world country

By voting RP, you will enable us to form a coalition with the DA in the Western Cape and leverage our position to force the Premier to call a referendum on Cape Independence.

We will win the referendum and the Western Cape will vote to break away from South Africa and begin to govern itself.

Through Cape Independence, we can then manage our own economy and create jobs, run our own police service and reduce crime, collect our own taxes and use them to improve the lives of the Western Cape people, and control our own borders to put an end to illegal land invasions. These are the building blocks for a prosperous, First-World future for the Western Cape and its people.

Our Programme in Government

Once elected to the National Assembly and Western Cape Provincial Parliament, our elected representatives will focus on the following actions:

Promote Cape Independence at every opportunity in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) and National Assembly (NA).

Elected representatives of RP will bring Cape Independence to the forefront of legislative debate. Whether in the parliamentary chamber or in committee meetings, the Referendum Party will ensure that Cape Independence forms an inescapable part of the legislative dialogue.

Table motion(s) calling for referendum (WCPP).

In the WCPP, Referendum Party MPPs will table motions pressuring the Premier to call a referendum on Cape Independence. RP’s support for the DA’s parliamentary agenda will be conditional on their support for a referendum on Cape Independence.

Legislatively advance self-determination (WCPP).‍

In the WCPP, Referendum Party MPPs will support efforts advancing self-determination for the Western Cape people. This would include re-introducing the Western Cape Peoples Bill, a bill that recognises the right of the Western Cape people to self-determination. Through claiming the right to self-determination, RP will introduce secondary pieces of legislation, which will enable the Western Cape government to exert control over additional areas of policy.

Table change to constitution - citizen instigated referendums (NA).

The RP wants to ensure that the people, rather than solely the politicians, have the ability to call referendums on issues affecting them. That is why the Referendum Party would seek to emulate the New Zealand model on citizen instigated referendums. If proponents of an issue are able to secure the signatures of 10 percent of the appropriate registered electors, a non-binding referendum would be held on that issue.

Summary

On the 29th of May, we need 100,000 people to make a stand and vote for the Referendum Party. This is the number of votes we have calculated is required to deliver a referendum on Cape Independence.

2024 could be our last chance to avert disaster for the Western Cape and your vote will determine which course our future takes. Do we become yet another African failed state or do we build an African First-World country?

Only Cape Independence will deliver us a First-World future. Vote Referendum Party for a referendum on Cape Independence.

Download a PDF version of our manifesto here.