Phil Craig, a prominent advocate for Western Cape secession, has responded to calls for his deportation, led by the African Transformation Movement (ATM) and supported by Mayibuye Melisizwe Mandela, great-grandson of the late Nelson Mandela.

Last month, Vuyo Zungula, leader of the ATM, wrote to South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Dr. Leon Schreiber, urging Craig’s removal. Zungula, citing Craig's British origins and his South African citizenship, accused him of stoking division by pushing for Western Cape independence.

”Craig has not only made public statements advocating secession of the Western Cape but has also led a movement to this end, which mobilises other people to join his cause. Craig’s cessation plan is highly divisive and if this notion is allowed to be mobilised even further, could worsen South Africa’s racial tensions,” Zungula warned.

Mayibuye Mandela echoed these concerns, labelling Craig "a privileged British foreigner" who, despite acquiring South African citizenship two decades ago, now seeks to fracture the nation. “His advocacy for Cape independence harks back to apartheid-era attempts to divide South Africa along racial lines,” Mandela remarked.

Craig, undeterred by these accusations, defended his stance. "I will not allow opposition from people like Mayibuye Mandela to derail this movement," he said. According to Craig, the core issues facing the Western Cape stem from the governance failures of successive ANC administrations—governments, he asserts, that most Cape residents have never supported.

Craig pushed back, saying, ”public transport is virtually nonexistent in my area as a result of the ANC having destroyed the rail system. Load shedding became a way of life as a result of the ANC destroying Eskom. My children have had to contend with racial quotas in their sports teams, race-based admission criteria when they go to university and employment equity when they go to work. My options as a father and entrepreneur have been limited by black economic empowerment,”

As the leader of the Referendum Party and co-founder of the Cape Independence Advocacy Group, Craig envisions a prosperous, non-racial, first-world state at Africa’s southern tip. However, the movement faces significant political challenges, with the two main parties, the Referendum Party and the VF+, garnering fewer than 2% of the vote between them.