Max gives DA
The Democratic Alliance’s Lennit Max believes his fourth attempt at the party’s Western Cape provincial leadership may finally prove to be successful when the DA heads to its elective congress in October.
On Wednesday, the DA announced Max as one of the nominated candidates for the top position in the province alongside current acting leader Bonginkosi Madikizela and Cape Town mayoral committee member Anda Ntsodo.
“I am optimistic about my chances. I’m in it to win it. I’ll work hard to make sure that I get it,” he told the Mail & Guardian this week.
“I’ve got the ability to attract and connect with people, with the majority of voters in the Western Cape. I am popular with them. I know them and they know me,” he said.
Although the names of the candidates were only officially announced this week, Max and Madikizela were seen as the frontrunners, having already started their campaigning earlier this month.
Madikizela is believed to enjoy the support of Western Cape Premier Helen Zille and the conservative wing of the party. He is also tipped to have the backing of the Western Cape metro region, the largest of the province’s regions.
Max, on the other hand, has had volatile relationships with Zille and former Western Cape leader Patricia de Lille. In 2015 he accused Zille of spying on him and using black leaders to her own advantage. That same year, Max’s supporters were accused of revolting against De Lille after she beat him in the contest to become provincial leader.
A senior DA member told the M&G that it was still unclear which of the party’s leaders would rally behind Max.
“I can’t even say who the DA leader Mmusi Maimane would back … Max is a bit of a maverick,” the senior member said. “He’s a difficult one to locate.”
Despite his confidence, Max suffered a setback earlier this month when the Western Cape metro regional congress elected Grant Twigg as its leader. Twigg has publicly declared his intention to back Madikizela at the party’s provincial congress.
Max admitted that, even though the urban vote was likely to be split between Madikizela and himself, gaining the backing of city dwellers was not the main focus of his campaign. Instead, he said, he would try to rally the support of largely overlooked rural DA members.
“Before I actually accepted the nomination, I went through