Former Independent Democrats (ID) Western Cape leader Lennit Max, who lost his post at last Saturday’s provincial party congress, on Thursday dropped his legal action to stave off a disciplinary hearing.
In a settlement minutes before the Cape High Court hearing was to have started, legal teams agreed to drop the matter. Max’s disciplinary hearing will go ahead on February 8.
The legal wrangling followed party infighting in December after Max alleged that ID leader Patricia de Lille and secretary general Avril Harding had accepted money from alleged crime boss Quinton Marinus, currently on trial on 47 charges, including murder.
De Lille has maintained that the ongoing legal wrangling has had no impact on the party and its 15Â 000 members in the Western Cape. And last Saturday’s congress appeared to prove her right.
The chant “Hlahlala ID. Phansi iLennit Max!” resounded in the Claremont Civic Hall in Cape Town as Neville Hendricks emerged as the new Western Cape leader.
But Hendricks will have to wait to see whether he will take up the seat in the Western Cape legislature, which Max’s suspension from the party and subsequent dismissal as provincial leader has left vacant.Â