Cape Town, South Africa - 2 February 2024: There were chaotic scenes at the Western Cape Legislature for the last public hearings for the proposed Western Cape Provincial Powers Bill. Opposition parties have condemned the bill saying the Democratic Alliance (DA) wants to use the bill to create an independent apartheid state in the Western Cape.

The DA claims the intention behind the bill is to devolve powers to the province in order to build its capacity to have great control over national competencies in the province such as policing, railways and education and to protect the citizens of the Wester Cape from ANC failures. The Western Cape is the only one of South Africa’s nine provinces not under the control of the ruling ANC.

The ANC (African National Congress), EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) and Alliance of Citizens for Change (ACC) protested outside the legislature to oppose the proposed bill. A few people with Cape Exit flags, calling for Western Cape independence, came to support the proposed bill.

The hearing had to be postponed as the venue couldn’t handle the capacity of the amount of people who showed up. People tried to force through the entrance guarded by police and pulled down the security gate. The hearing had to be postponed and a new venue and date is yet to be announced.