What is the DA’s stance on CapeXit?

The much-talked-about CapeXit 2024 was not on the agenda, as a sea of blue took to the Union Buildings this weekend for the Democratic Alliance (DA) election manifesto launch.

Just the very fact the party’s launch took place in Gauteng and not the Western Cape clearly signals the DA’s stance on CapeXit. This was reiterated in a press briefing in Pretoria on Friday, in which DA chairperson, Ivan Meyer, addressed the issue.

NO CAPEXIT 2024 FOR DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

Mayer said the DA had noted the push by the Cape Independence Party for CapeXit. However, it did not support the idea of the Western Cape being separated from the rest of South Africa through referendum, reports The Citizen.

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“I cannot see how you can have a separate Western Cape. Because, firstly, we do not want to go there. We do not believe in that, but there are other parties that believe in that. We will not go that route, that is the wrong route,” confirmed Meyer.

WHAT THE DA STANDS FOR

However, the DA did indeed layout what it aimed to do if elected to power. This includes the following:

• Create 2-million new jobs.
• End water- and load-shedding.
• Halve violent crime.
• Reduce gender-based violence.
• End corruption by abolishing cadre deployment.
• Introduce a merit-based system of appointments.
• Lift 6-million people out of poverty.
• Triple the reading capability of grade 4 pupils.
• Provide quality health care for all.

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According to Meyer, South Africans have been abandoned by government and the DA believes in being united in diversity, rather than separatism. Party leader, Steenhuisen, reiterated this fact on the weekend, saying the DA is no longer in opposition to the ANC.

ANC IN TERMINAL DECLINE

“The ANC is in terminal decline. And South Africans are tired of empty promises. The people are tired of hearing about bullet trains when the regular trains they used to take no longer run. In this election, the DA is not going to oppose the ANC, this year we are going to defeat the ANC. For the first time in our democratic history, support for the ANC is well below 50%,” said Steenhuisen.

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While the DA’s focus is nationally, Mayer said there was no space for complacency in the Western Cape, which the party has run successfully for two decades. “Our research indicates we will win the Western Cape with an outright majority,” said Mayer.