Cape Town has seceded from the rest of South Africa. At least that’s what the Khoisan Nation’s King, Khoebaha Calvin Cornelius III, would like you to believe. The traditional leader has given parliament until Friday to vacate the premises.

It’s an act of defiance, of sovereignty and, some may say, of lunacy – but on Monday morning the Khoisan Nation proclaimed the Cape of Good Hope an independent homeland. In an act of great symbolic significance, The Sovereign State of Good Hope (SSGH) removed the South African National flag and hoisted their own.

This coup d’etat, this cultural-political revolution, went largely unnoticed. In fact, most South Africans who have only recently woken up to the Khoisan Nation movement, and Western Cape overthrow, have wondered if it’s all an elaborate joke.

But, King Khoebaha seems quite serious about the secession – the Good Hope’s newfound sovereignty “being the result of a legitimate and lawful process of secession by the traditional hereditary tribal leader of the Khoisan Nation, Gaob (King) Khoebaha Calvin Cornelius III”.

The Sovereign State of Good Hope (SSGH)

King Khoebaha released an official statement to the nation in the video below. This national address comments on a wide range of socio-economic issues facing South Africa, and why the SSGH is destined for self-governance.

Watch: The Cape is now The Sovereign State of Good Hope

As reported by The Citizen, the SSGH’s territorial borders will extend to the Northern border of the current Western Cape limits ending at the Fish River on the eastern frontier.

The eviction noticed delivered to the government cabinet, written by the Khoisan King, reads:

“You were given notice of our secession as well as our declaration based on the principle of self-determination and independence to establish the Sovereign State of Good Hope. This letter is to draw your attention to the fact that you have been duly notified of our secession and declaration of independence, and since you have not seen fit to reply, it is an established principle of international law that your non-response may well imply that you not only have been notified but that you have agreed to the terms of our terms of our secession.”

King Khoebaha added that the secession is based on the fundamentals of International Law, which include:

“1. The Principle Of Self-Determination and 2. The recognised Principles of International Law that a State may qualify for International Recognition when it meets the criteria of a permanent population-defined territory and organised level of governance and the capacity to manage its foreign relations. This letter notifies you that we are now asserting the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Sovereign State of Good Hope.”

Commenting on the newfound state’s ‘foreign relations’ with the rest of South Africa, the King wrote:

“We write to inform you that our foreign relations with the Republic of South Africa are meant to be peaceful and constructive and that we will work with you and collaborate with you in all ways that will advance the policies, purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter. We expect that you will respect the Charter as well, and that you will respect the foundations of peace and common understanding and goodwill and fellowship between nation states and the explicit principles upon which the International system is found.”

The King signed the document and stamped the letter, stating that it was addressed from the “Royal House of the Khoisan”.

This act of defiance may only serve as a symbolic reminder – it may well be the intention of splinter groups within the Khoisan community – but it only serves to highlight the marginalization experienced by South Africa’s ‘first nation’.

Khoisan nationalism has grown in recent years, after being denied the right of recognition of being the nation’s first indigenous people.

This secession move comes in the wake of fierce debate around land, belonging and entitlement; with planned Constitutional amendments aimed at land expropriation without compensation.