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Regarding the policy being set at national level - I've seen mention of the Western Cape seceding - how realistic was that, and has this had any effect on that?

Regarding the policy being set at national level - I've seen mention of the Western Cape seceding - how realistic was that, and has this had any effect on that? I'm ex Durban/Johannesburg, abandoned the rainbow nation 20 or so years ago with zero confidence in its future, and I'm afraid it was the right call; part of me would love to return, and the WC (there's a pun there) seceding would interest me for a move there.

chesimov 9y ago
Well, there's an exodus from the rest of the country to the W. Cape. They call it 'semigration'. Property was up 12% a while ago when all other provinces saw a decline I think (except Gauteng; they were up 3%). As a young person of the wrong demographic here though, myself and most of my friends are preparing for possible departure for a few different reasons. If you are already established in a field with an overseas nest egg that can't be touched by SA inflation though, then Cape Town is probably one of the best cities to live in on the planet. If you know what you're doing, living here is fantastic.
- avn2109 9y ago
  Can you elaborate on what makes CT so good? My South African friends always say this but I can't get a straight answer out of them why it's so great.
- tonteldoos 9y ago
  The joke used to be that the WC is where you emmigrated to if you didn't want to emmigrate :)
oh_sigh 9y ago
What's the "wrong demographic"? Or..what is the right demographic?
igitur 9y ago
To answer your question, I haven't met anyone in Cape Town who takes a WC secession seriously. There is a very small political party that advocates for it, be its treated as one of the joke parties.
SeoxyS 9y ago
Agreed entirely. Used to live in Durban and left >10 years ago now with zero confidence in the nation. I won't be surprised to see the whole country descend into chaos soon. The apartheid government may have been morally reprehensible, but at least it knew how to run a country. Either option is kind of shitty…
- dragonwriter 9y ago
  The apartheid government no longer exists because it caused the country to descend into so much chaos that the rulers gave up trying to continue. So, by the standard you imply with your comparison, the apartheid government—even more certainly than the present regime—did not know how to run a country.
  - SeoxyS 9y ago
    The apartheid government no longer exists because (1) open racism was no longer tenable in the face of an evolving society, and (2) the worldwide sanctions placed on it became too great. That's fine, but that's also completely orthogonal to the point, which is that: 1/ By most standards, the effectiveness of government has plummetted since the end of apartheid. Crime is up; corruption has increased; resources are running out (nation-wide electricity blackouts last decade, now water); etc. 2/ Open government-sponsored racism still exists today, but most of it is considered to be commendable under the banner of affirmative action. If we were to take race entirely out of the picture, the apartheid regime would be considered far more effective than the ANC regime. That, of course, is neither realistic nor fair… But we should aspire to a post-racial world where we race is no longer relevant, where both apartheid and affirmative action are considered revolting abominations, but also where we judge governments based on their net effectiveness.
    - Sacho 9y ago
      It's imposible to divorce the effectiveness of government from global phenomenon and long-term knock-on effects from previous governments. For example, the brownout crisis - was it because the ANC government mismanaged funding and refused to repair, renew and build electrical power plants, or was it because the situation left by the apartheid government was unsustainable, and the ANC was left with a "you deal with it" post-it note? It's difficult to know without getting into the specifics of each issue. My point is that comparing government effectiveness is not as easy as looking at results. This was exemplified by many of the communist satellite states to the USSR, which it sponsored for political gain to its own economic detriment. The satellite states flourished under communism, and as soon as the regime collapsed they suffered - was it the newly-elected democratic government's fault that industry had collapsed and there was rampant inflation, or was it just a long-term effect of previous government policy?

chesimov 9y ago

Well, there's an exodus from the rest of the country to the W. Cape. They call it 'semigration'. Property was up 12% a while ago when all other provinces saw a decline I think (except Gauteng; they were up 3%). As a young person of the wrong demographic here though, myself and most of my friends are preparing for possible departure for a few different reasons. If you are already established in a field with an overseas nest egg that can't be touched by SA inflation though, then Cape Town is probably one of the best cities to live in on the planet. If you know what you're doing, living here is fantastic.

avn2109 9y ago
Can you elaborate on what makes CT so good? My South African friends always say this but I can't get a straight answer out of them why it's so great.
tonteldoos 9y ago
The joke used to be that the WC is where you emmigrated to if you didn't want to emmigrate :)

oh_sigh 9y ago

What's the "wrong demographic"? Or..what is the right demographic?

igitur 9y ago

To answer your question, I haven't met anyone in Cape Town who takes a WC secession seriously. There is a very small political party that advocates for it, be its treated as one of the joke parties.

SeoxyS 9y ago

Agreed entirely. Used to live in Durban and left >10 years ago now with zero confidence in the nation. I won't be surprised to see the whole country descend into chaos soon. The apartheid government may have been morally reprehensible, but at least it knew how to run a country. Either option is kind of shitty…

dragonwriter 9y ago
The apartheid government no longer exists because it caused the country to descend into so much chaos that the rulers gave up trying to continue. So, by the standard you imply with your comparison, the apartheid government—even more certainly than the present regime—did not know how to run a country.
- SeoxyS 9y ago
  The apartheid government no longer exists because (1) open racism was no longer tenable in the face of an evolving society, and (2) the worldwide sanctions placed on it became too great. That's fine, but that's also completely orthogonal to the point, which is that: 1/ By most standards, the effectiveness of government has plummetted since the end of apartheid. Crime is up; corruption has increased; resources are running out (nation-wide electricity blackouts last decade, now water); etc. 2/ Open government-sponsored racism still exists today, but most of it is considered to be commendable under the banner of affirmative action. If we were to take race entirely out of the picture, the apartheid regime would be considered far more effective than the ANC regime. That, of course, is neither realistic nor fair… But we should aspire to a post-racial world where we race is no longer relevant, where both apartheid and affirmative action are considered revolting abominations, but also where we judge governments based on their net effectiveness.
  - Sacho 9y ago
    It's imposible to divorce the effectiveness of government from global phenomenon and long-term knock-on effects from previous governments. For example, the brownout crisis - was it because the ANC government mismanaged funding and refused to repair, renew and build electrical power plants, or was it because the situation left by the apartheid government was unsustainable, and the ANC was left with a "you deal with it" post-it note? It's difficult to know without getting into the specifics of each issue. My point is that comparing government effectiveness is not as easy as looking at results. This was exemplified by many of the communist satellite states to the USSR, which it sponsored for political gain to its own economic detriment. The satellite states flourished under communism, and as soon as the regime collapsed they suffered - was it the newly-elected democratic government's fault that industry had collapsed and there was rampant inflation, or was it just a long-term effect of previous government policy?