Members of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament voted in Friday to open the public participation process on the Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill.

The Bill, tabled in the Western Cape’s Standing Committee on Premier and Constitutional Matters this year, seeks to ask the ANC government politely for the devolution of five areas of government to the provincial level: policing, public transport, energy, trade, and harbours.

While these sectors are in dire need of reform, and threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of Western Cape residents, the national government has repeatedly said no to these requests, and has in fact moved ahead in stripping existing powers from the metropolitan police, and denied the provincial government seats in key committees overseeing port management.

The DA in the Provincial Parliament recently voted against prioritising the Western Cape People’s Bill in the Parliamentary list, demonstrating in the record that they had not read the Bill.

Between Corné Mulder, Phil Craig and Peter Marais, the pro-independence lobby showed that the bill is not, as it was accused of, focused on one particular race or language group, and that it in substance draws on the particular status given to international treaties under South African law as described in the Constitution.

The three treaties cited by the People’s Bill mandate the government to afford autonomous governance to peoples within the state who demand it through their representatives, creating specific legal grounds for taking control of the areas of policy which the Provincial Powers Bill only politely requests.

The Da has insisted that their toothless little Bill is the most important one, and has made efforts to sideline the Peoples Bill brought by their ostensible allies in the Vryheids Front Plus.

The committee has voted to include in-person hearings in the public participation process, to be conducted early next year across the Western Cape. Digital channels will also be opened for written submissions from Western Cape residents.

DA Spokesperson on the Bill, Isaac Sileku, said:

“I am pleased that our residents will soon have the opportunity to make their voices heard on this bill, which represents the Western Cape’s best opportunity improve safety and economic wellbeing for our residents. The passage of this bill will go a long way toward bringing decision-making processes closer to our communities, and giving our provincial government the tools it needs to enhance safety, create jobs, and mitigate the energy crisis.”

This boastful language demonstrates a superficial understanding of constitutional powers and negotiating leverage. The lack of confidence and courage demonstrated by the DA in dealing with devolution, despite their commitment to “federalism”, is a glaring failure, considering the presence of this strategic aim on their manifesto since the beginning.

Alan Winde went on the record to complain about his party’s hesitation and unfounded trust in the ANC in a recent digital conference on renewable energy, stating that he had personally pursued energy devolution since his first week in office in 2009, as head of finance and economy.

It has taken the emergence of the Cape independence movement to light a fire under the DA and get them moving on issues of devolution, which the party appears to hope will contain secessionist sentiment.

But if they do not back the Peoples Bill or a referendum on secession, it is unlikely that any powers will be devolved at all.

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