Our Plan B

what would the cape of good hope’s citizenship and passport look like?

the cape independence advocacy group is working towads trying to get a REFERENDUM for the western cape to vote for independence.

The Cape Independence Advocacy Group has led this rise of interest in 2020. The organisation is not a political party but rather are focused on coordinating and supporting people and organisations working towards Cape independence. At the end of the day they want to bring a referendum, with the end goal of secession from South Africa and forming a new sovereign state. This new independent country would be named “The Cape of Good Hope”. 

The interest into the topic comes in the form of citizenship and the passport, if there was a newly formed sovereign Cape of Good Hope. At present this exercise is purely a hypothetical exercise.

How would Citizenship work?

Citizenship refers to the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country. If The Cape of Good Hope were to be formed post a majority (50% +1 vote) there would be a need for citizenship. Who would be eligible for citizenship? 

Scotland’s White Paper on citizenship may give some hints if the country were to become independent of the United Kingdom. There are various routes for someone to claim citizenship ranging from being born in the country, living in the country for a certain number of years or being linked to an ancestor born in the country. A few possible routes to citizenship could include criteria such as:

• Those born in the boundaries of the Cape of Good Hope, following the citizenship principle of jus soil, although there may be a caveat as to the parents residential or citizenship status at the time of the birth;

• Registered to be able to vote in the referendum and having been a habitual resident in the Cape of Good Hope for a certain number of years (likely 5-10 years), following the citizenship principle of naturalisation;

• By descent, a parent or grandparent being born in boundaries of the Cape of Good Hope following the citizenship principle of jus sanguis;

• Marriage is possible in other countries such as Italy, Portugal, after being married for a period of time without physical presence in the “country” but have other criteria to meet to be eligible. There may be a reduced time period to obtain citizenship by being married to a citizen. The United Kingdom marriage law reduces the time required from 6 years to 3 years to be eligible for citizenship.

There are likely to be other options available, but these are the most obvious routes to become a citizen of the Cape of Good Hope.

Both Mauritius and The Seychelles both have visa free access to the UK, Schengen areas, China, and New Zealand. Mauritius also has visa free access to Japan, making it the only country to have visa free access to Russia, China, Japan, and New Zealand.

All of these visa free travel areas are some of the top destinations South African’s travel to but currently require visas to do so. To garner additional support for a referendum it would go a long way if the Cape Advocacy Group could get positive indications from countries who would allow visa free travel for an independent Cape of Good Hope. 

Additional bonus visa free waivers which South Africa, Seychelles and Mauritius do not have but the Cape of Good Hope should look to make should be Canada, Australia and Mexico. These would be unlikely but by building good bilateral relationships anything is possible.

key support for a strong passport

International support is one of the key criteria needed to have the opportunity to have a referendum. Key support from international organisations like the United Nations, the Commonwealth, or African Union and countries such as the United Kingdom, USA, would go a long way into assisting the Cape of Good Hope to get a majority vote.

It is likely the Cape of Good Hope would apply to and become part of the Commonwealth if they were independent. This would secure many key partnerships around the world for the new sovereign state. Support from United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, and many SADC countries would help the cause to hold a referendum to vote for independence.

There should be a push towards obtaining the UK Working Holiday Visa, which is a two-year visa in which travellers can work over any 12 of its 24 months. South Africa’s agreement was ended in 2009 as the country did not improve immigration and passport security in the country, even after ample warning. This agreement would be such a great opportunity for persons aged 18 – 30 in the Cape of Good Hope to legally obtain experience from working and travelling abroad. 

Lastly, the Cape of Good Hope should look at working with the United Kingdom to have a bilateral agreement for sharing resources and intellectual property for the agriculture industry. The UK has experienced a shortage of seasonal labour in 2021, possibly caused from Brexit. The Cape is world renowned for its fruit industry and allowing a seasonal agriculture visa for skilled persons in the industry would make sense.

passport deisgn and security features

The passport will need to have all of the latest security features to ensure that it can be ranked amongst the most secure in the world. The new British passport, which is being made in France, has the most advanced passport microchip to ensure the person is who they say they are and there is secure biometric data to correspond to this. 

Additionally, there will need to be stringent citizenship protocols to ensure there are no fraudulent citizenships and thus passports giving to those who do not qualify. Fraud and corruption in Home Affairs, was a major reason for South Africa’s downward trend in its passport strength.

The design of the passport will more than likely have the Western Cape “Coat of Arms” which has been in use since 1998. Passport colours are typically either maroon, green, and blue. If one has to look at potential major partner countries in the Commonwealth, it is more than likely the Cape of Good Hope would be a Navy Blue. Recently post Brexit, the United Kingdom has “Gone Back to Blue” for the British passport. India, Canada, Australia, Mauritius, most of the Caribbean Commonwealth nations all have a navy-blue passport.

These are just some of the talking points for a potential Cape of Good Hope citizenship and passport. Of course, all of this is only hypothetical and unlikely to happen soon. If you are looking or even just thinking about investigation options for where you could move to, or obtain a second citizenship and residency by investment then enquire to start your journey and build a unique and tailor-made Plan B strategy.