PHIL Craig, controversial secessionist and Western Cape independence advocate, has responded to the African Transformation Movement’s (ATM’s) calls backed by late former president Nelson Mandela's great grandson Mayibuye Melisizwe Mandela that he be deported.
Last month, ATM leader Vuyo Zungula wrote to Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber, stating that Craig, a British citizen with South African citizenship, has been actively advocating for and promoting the independence of the Western Cape.
”Craig has not only made public statements advocating secession of the Western Cape but has also led a movement to this end, which mobilises other people to join his cause. Craig’s cessation plan is highly divisive and if this notion is allowed to be mobilised even further, could worsen South Africa’s racial tensions,” Zungula warned.
He said the Western Cape’s possible independence would undermine the country’s unity and diversity, lead to economic instability, and potentially create new social and political tensions.
Zungula’s party received backing from Mayibuye Melisizwe Mandela, who last week described Craig as a British foreigner who was privileged to receive South African citizenship 20 years ago but now seeks to divide the country along racial and regional lines.
”His promotion of (Western) Cape independence is not just an attack on our unity. It is a painful reminder of the apartheid era that sought to fracture our society along racial lines,” the younger Mandela said.
However, Craig responded by saying he was not going to allow the fact that people like Mayibuye Melisizwe Mandela did not want him to succeed to stand in his way.
Craig said what was driving his calls for Western Cape independence was that many of the challenges faced by the province’s residents were a product of successive ANC governments, which neither his family nor the majority of other families there have ever voted for.
”Our economy has been stagnant for decades as a result of disastrous ANC policies, meaning that our standard of living has continually declined. Crime is out of control as a result of a criminal justice system that the ANC deliberately handicapped,” he claimed.
Craig, who describes himself as a supporter of the establishment of a prosperous and non-racial first-world country at Africa’s southern tip, The Cape of Good Hope, leads the Referendum Party and co-founded the Cape Independence Advocacy Group.
The Referendum Party was rejected by the multi-party charter ahead of the May 29 national and provincial elections, where the party only managed 8 040 votes nationally, 2 506 in the Western Cape, while in the regional vote it could only garner 4 206.
Despite the election results, Craig still insists he wants to create a better life for all the people of the Western Cape.
”Public transport is virtually nonexistent in my area as a result of the ANC having destroyed the rail system. Load shedding became a way of life as a result of the ANC destroying Eskom.
“My children have had to contend with racial quotas in their sports teams, race-based admission criteria when they go to university and employment equity when they go to work. My options as a father and entrepreneur have been limited by black economic empowerment,” he complained.
loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za