Cape Town - ANC Provincial Legislature leader Cameron Dugmore has accused a new group led by DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille calling for the devolution of powers to the province of being informed by a racist agenda.
The Western Cape Devolution Working Group (WCDWG) aims to protect the rights of residents of the province and to improve their circumstances through the devolution of powers and functions away from national government, according to Zille.
“The initial focus of the group will be on the devolution of policing powers to the province and clearing the legislative hurdles which prevent the Western Cape premier from exercising his constitutional right to directly consult the Western Cape people on specific issues via referendums,” she said.
The inaugural meeting of the group was held last week and attended by several organisations including the DA, Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Cape Independence Party (CIP) and Afriforum.
“The group will use all legal means at its disposal including formal legislation, political lobbying, legal action, public participation and peaceful mass mobilisation,” said Zille.
But Dugmore said the group was nothing more than an alliance of “conservative and racist organisations” that seek to undermine the national Constitution.
“Instead of focusing on economic and social strategies to deal with the causes of crime, this right wing alliance wants more police powers.
“They deliberately seek to create conflict with SAPS and in the process undermine the united effort to defeat crime and violence.
“We call on the people of the Western Cape, black and white, not to be fooled by words like ‘devolution’. This is informed by a racist agenda of setting up an Independent Cape Republic in which wealth and privilege will stay on the hands of the few, and the vast majority of black people
(African and coloured) will be marginalised,” he said.
In response to Dugmore, Zille said: “No surprises that Cameron Dugmore and the ANC criminal syndicate play the race card when citizens seek to defend the whole of society from the consequences of the ANC’s failed state.
“Dugmore and the ANC’s criminals can rant and rave as much as they like.
“We will continue to mobilise for the devolution of power to competent local governments to save all citizens from the ravages of ANC’s criminality at national level and in other provinces.
“The ANC’s continued drive to centralise power will mean complete state collapse across the whole of SA.
“We will not sit by and allow this to happen.” Director at the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University Zwelinzima Ndevu said the idea was “short-sighted”.
“When systems are not working in one sphere of government you do not decide to cut all ties but work within to correct the abnormalities.
“The project is going to fail. “My challenge with this idea is that it is politically motivated and that happens when (we) get a good political party at national level or a bad political party at local level.
“Do we review the process again? “The second thing is that the idea (is) driven by personalities (the current leadership of the parties),” he said.
Cape Times