President Cyril Ramaphosa has disapproved of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group’s visit to the US during the diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria.
Speaking to the media on Thursday in Pretoria, the Presidency's Vincent Magwenya said the leadership of government needed to focus on addressing the pressing needs of all citizens through dialogue and policies that strengthen social solidarity, given the organisation’s limited representation and lack of alignment with constitutional values prioritising social cohesion and equality.
“The President takes a very strong dim view of this planned visit to the US, to seek secession from South Africa. The constitutional democracy that we forged in 1994 created a unitary state and non-racial society that recognises and protects our unity in diversity.
“From Musina to Cape Town, we are one democratic society that should never be allowed to fall under the chasm of race divides,” he added.
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Magwenya further urged that while people exercised their constitutional rights, they must not do so in a manner that undermined and subverted constitutional democracy in South Africa.
“We should all be actively engaged in building a better South Africa in the face of unpredictable geopolitical dynamics,” he maintained.
Magwenya reiterated Ramaphosa’s position that the groups who were travelling to the US requesting them to discipline the South African government, do not in any sense represent the country.
"These groups who are heading to Washington, do not represent the majority of South Africans, whether the Orania Movement, AfriForum, or Cape Independence Advocacy Group," he said.
His remarks come after the group announced that it will be taking a trip to the US to seek international support and also to put the Western Cape first.
The group wants the province to run independently.
Magwenya said it was up to the US government on how they receive the groups’ delegation, adding that they were pleased that the majority of the citizens have rejected the divisive stance by the groups.