Two enigmas concerning the Cape Fold Belt (CFB), part of the Gondwanide Orogen that formerly stretched across southern Gondwana, are (1) its apparent development far-removed (≥1 500 km) from the convergent margin of Gondwana; and (2) the origin of the Cape Syntaxis, a 40–80° bend in the strike of the belt that occurs near Cape Town. An additional puzzle is how the Falkland Islands, which are believed to have originally been situated off the southeastern coast of Africa and may have formed the eastern continuation of the CFB, came to be rotated 180° during, or prior to, the break-up of Gondwana. In an attempt to address these enigmas, I review recent developments in the study of the CFB and of the South American, Falkland Islands and Antarctic portions of the Gondwanide Orogen, provide reinterpretations of some data and suggest a new tectonic model.