We either heed history or repeat it. That’s the thrust of this brilliant contribution by Rhodes Scholar and Oxford don RW Johnson as he applies his mind to the prospect of Western Cape independence. Those who look back to see the future need little reminding how in 1910 the colony of Natal came within a whisker of staying outside the Union of South Africa. Or how until that point SA was actually four separate countries whose consolidation was only successful because of strong economic growth thereafter. Today, while many citizens of the Western Cape muse about independence from the ruling ANC’s centralist philosophy, actual secession is paid little serious attention. That may well change. In this piece, republished with permission of the author and Politicsweb, Johnson suggests Western Cape separatist dreams could start taking root. As ever, he’s on the money. A desire for smaller sovereignty units is, after all, a global phenomenon – witness Brexit, Scotland, Nigeria and a growing number of other examples. – Alec Hogg

By RW Johnson*

I live in Cape Town and mix with a reasonable cross-section of my fellow residents. In recent time, particularly among the white and Coloured communities – who make up around 70% of the population, I have been surprised to see how often the notion has come up quite spontaneously of an independent Western Cape or, at the least, considerably greater autonomy for the Cape. In any group where the subject comes up there is, each time, great and universal approbation for such schemes. People exclaim with enthusiasm “That is my dream !”, “Oh, if only we could do that !” and so on.