Heindrich Wyngaard and AfriForum establish new Cape civil society organisation
3 April 2022
The prominent Afrikaans media personality and socio-political commentator Heindrich Wyngaard and AfriForum has announced that they, together with other role players, had established a new Cape civil society organisation called the Cape Forum. Wyngaard will hold the position of executive chairperson of the Cape Forum full-time from 4 April.
The Cape Forum will focus, among other things, on promoting community self-reliance in Cape communities and helping to establish growing federalism in the Western Cape and Cape communities.
With the establishment of strong, self-reliant communities, the Cape Forum wants to focus on a self-help attitude to, among other things, help combat poverty, expand community economies, ensure safety, and establish well-functioning communities. According to the Cape Forum, self-reliant communities are the building blocks for building a healthy democratic federal order from the grassroots level. This self-help attitude is reflected in the Cape Forum’s slogan, “Put the Cape’s future in Cape hands”.
With the promotion of growing federalism, the Cape Forum wants to ensure that decision-making powers on, among other things, policing, public transport, electricity supply, water, fisheries, and the criminal justice system are devolved from the national government to the Western Cape province, municipalities, and local communities. Tax federalism where taxpayers’ money is largely used locally, will form a core part of the Cape Forum’s action plan.