In response to claims made by DA leader John Steenhuisen in a British newspaper that the Referendum Party (RP) is lying about a Cape Independence referendum promise, RP leader Phil Craig has voluntarily undergone a polygraph examination which has confirmed that he is telling the truth.

The RP now challenges Steenhuisen to also submit himself for a polygraph.

RP leader Phil Craig says, “John Steenhuisen promised me personally that the DA would address defects in the referendum legislation, and having done so, that the DA would call a referendum in the Western Cape which included a question on Cape Independence.”

This denial by Steenhuisen is the first time the DA have come out and refuted that the promise of a Cape Independence referendum was made. Up until this point the DA has resorted to underhand tactics to try and keep the promise out of the media.

In October 2023, when the Cape Independence Advocacy Group (CIAG) ran a social awareness campaign around the broken promise, the DA tried to bully them into silence by threatening trademark infringement. The DA said the CIAG was not entitled to use their logo as a means to identify the party for criticism.

The CIAG (whose directors subsequently formed the Referendum Party) responded through its own lawyers. It provided the dates and times when the promise was made, the details of the witnesses who were present, and it directly challenged the DA to place a denial of the CIAG’s version of events on record. The DA opted not to do so and instead dropped its own legal action.

Craig says, “The DA promised a referendum question on Cape Independence, and polling shows that more than two-thirds of Western Cape voters favour a referendum being held. Given that polling has now emphatically established that the DA’s national plan, the Multi-Party Charter (MPC) is destined for abject failure, it is unconscionable for the DA to deny the Western Cape people a referendum on Cape Independence, let alone break a promise and to then lie about it.” 

The RP now trusts that the DA will either formally back up its versions of events or, in the event that it in good conscience cannot, that it will admit it did promise a Cape Independence referendum and honour its word.