Digital civic action platform
Kaapenaar is a digital platform that enables registered users to participate in issue-based consultations, or "mini-referendums", aimed at delivering irrefutable results that expresses the will of the people of the Cape of Good Hope that center around self-determination. Participation is flexible. You can take part actively, occasionally, or simply observe. However, only high-level results will be published in the public domain. Participation is restricted to registered users.
Core objectives
Meaningful participation to achieve a quorum
When enough people participate, Kaapenaar aggregates responses into clear, understandable outcomes. The methodology is transparent, and the objective is to remove speculation and assumption regarding public sentiment.
Reach consensus on core issues
Participation does not imply support for any political party. It does not commit you to any future position, or require any ideological alignment. We strive to present a balanced, unbiased opportunity to give a voice to Kaapenaars and abide by the democratic outcome.
Take action to implement the will of the people
Provided a sufficient quorum is reached and there is clear consensus on any topic, the result in and of itself should lead to civic action if and when the will of the people contrasts with local or national government policy.
Who can participate?
In order for this consensus exercise to have credibility and recognition, it is required to limit participation to establish a quorum and measure the outcome of participant's wishes.
Pre-requisites
South African citizenship
It is required to be a current South African citizen to participate in the consensus.
AND
Permanent legal residence in the Cape
You have to maintain a permanent legal residence within the territory of the former Cape of Good Hope or the Cape Province as defined prior to 1994.
OR
Former resident / ancestor of the Cape
In accordance with international law, provided you are still a South African citizen and no longer maintain a legal residence in the Cape, you still qualify provided the condition below has been met, regardless of whether you live in South Africa or in another country -
You, or your ancestors have fled the Cape due to oppression and/or persecution, racial discrimination, or severe safety concerns.
Who are the Kaapenaars?
Kaapenaars are predominantly people from ethnic white and coloured extraction that currently, or formally live in the Cape, or their ancestry lived in the Cape and identify with the norms and values and identity described herein. That is not to say that it does not also include black ethnic groups, it specifically includes the Xhosa tribe, but they are as a group smaller than the white and colour groups in the Western and Northern Cape and in most cases very recently settled in the Western Cape. The white and coloured ethnic groups collectively have a distinctly separate language called Afrikaans and has a unique cultural and ideological outlook compared to the rest of South Africa.
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The majority of Kaapenaars speak Afrikaans as a first language and a minority speak English and isiXhosa as their first language.
The geographical concentration at present and historically of this group of people is broadly the territory of the former Cape Colony.
The collective noun of people that live or come from the Cape is “Kaapenaar” in Afrikaans.
Kaapenaar Cooperative
Vehicle for change
Should sufficient support be evidenced we will incorporate a Cooperative to serve as an inclusive vehicle to address the crisis experienced by Kaapenaars in the unitary state of South Africa. The Kaapenaar Cooperative will seek a mandate from its members based on consensus reached on core topics including what form of self-determination Kaapenaars wish to pursue.
Our collective values are self-evident and stand in contrast to many of the values of the rest of the country. Self-determination, strong property rights, personal and community freedom form the core of our mission, empowering individuals to reclaim their right to self-governance.
Core areas of consensus building.
Identity
In order to claim self-determination, the simple question "Who are we?" has to be answered in the positive: "We are Kaapenaars."
Religion
A statistical understanding of our religious beliefs and consensus for the separation between religion and state.
Education
Ccommitment to mother-tongue education and the modernisation of an education system built on proven international standards.
Geography
An investigation into which of us and how many have a permanent connection to the territory and where does it stem from?.
Economics
Validation to commit to a free market system, and the rejection of socialism and statism.
Safety & security
Addressing the collapse of safety and rebuilding functional world-class police, military, and correctional services.
Ideology & values
Most importantly, our core beliefs and values need to be self-evident in and of themselves.
Politics
The presentation and selection of various systems of government and selecting the best suited version for Kaapenaars.
Self-determination
We seek consensus Kaapenaars that form a quorum to express what kind of self-determination they claim for themselves in the Cape of Good Hope.
1
Denial of basic human rights and the ability to exercise our right of democratic self-government.
2
Respect the principle of uti possidetis whereby the Cape of Good Hope does not seek to obtain territory it did not hold before.
3
Commitment to the respect for the rule of law, democracy and human rights, including the need for guarantees for the rights of minorities, the inviolability of all frontiers, and all commitments with regard to disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.
Our values
Self-determination
Kaapenaar Is a platform that aims to address the crisis that exists in the unitary state of South Africa. After having exhausted all domestic remedies by various civil liberty organisations, the goal is to establish the will of the people of the Cape. The Union of South Africa was created as an act of parliament in the United Kingdom that was enforced from the people of Southern Africa under colonial law. Subsequent statist governments have oppressed one people or another. It is time for the various nations that live within the borders of the unitary state of South Africa to claim their right to self-determination.
People
Formalising the Kaapenaar Nation
Self-determination requires the identification the ‘people’ who wish to govern themselves. To qualify requires a clear identification of a geography, distinct language and culture that sets them aside from the parent state. It should therefore not be misconstrued to focus on the will of the ethnic white and coloured population as a racist sentiment - it is a prerequisite to consider self determination.
Territory
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope was established in 1652 by the VOC where Cape Town is today and naturally expanded along the into the interior where natural borders were formed as the proto-Kaapenaars encountered the Bantu peoples on the eastern and north-eastern borders. The outer borders of the former Cape Colony and Cape Province pre-1994 represent the maximum territory considered, and will most likely be smaller.
Government
Local government structures already exist
The Western Cape already includes a parliament and constitution ratified by the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The requisite local government structures are in place, and there shall be no doubt as to whether Kaapenaars can govern themselves. The only thing standing in our way is the government of the Western Cape and the National government that are refusing the democratic will of the people to govern themselves.
Relationship with nations
Remedial right to secession
The people of the Cape have been collectively denied their civil and political rights and have been the subject of egregious abuse that have been acknowledged internationally.
Should Kaapenaars determine that they disassociate themselves from the South African Government’s stance and association with autocratic regimes, we would be perfectly entitled to claim our right to external self determination and take our rightful place in the international community and pursue our relations with executive powers among nations.