Ramaphosa rejects secession referendum, insists South Africa will remain a united sovereign state

The Republic of South Africa is to remain one, sovereign, democratic state, and that is the way it will remain was the stance that President Cyril Ramaphosa has adopted.

And he is not prepared to entertain the idea of holding a referendum to gauge whether any part of the country must be subjected to secession, for its separate existence.

Ramaphosa also cleared that no mobilisation on the issues of secession came from any quarter in the Government of National Unity.

He made his feelings known recently while responding to parliamentary questions raised by EFF MP Thapelo Mogale, who asked whether the president intended holding a referendum to gauge public opinion, for or against, on the secession of the Western Cape, the creation of a Volkstaat for Afrikaners and Western Cape independence.

Ramaphosa said that he had a constitutional imperative to uphold in ensuring that he promoted unity in South Africa.

“In line with the constitutional responsibility of the president to uphold, defend, and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic and to promote the unity of the nation, I have no intention of considering a proposal or holding a referendum on the secession of any part of the country,” Ramaphosa said. 

DAILY NEWS