Lennit Max cries racism as he resigns from Freedom Front Plus

Former Western Cape police commissioner Lennit Max has resigned from the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), crying racism.

Max joined the party in August 2021 ahead of that year’s local government elections and became its mayoral candidate for Cape Town.

He is a former member of the DA and the erstwhile Independent Democrats who has also had a brief stint as an adviser to police minister Bheki Cele.

In a resignation letter seen by TimesLIVE, Max accuses his latest political home of prioritising the interests of Afrikaners to the exclusion of other race groups.

At issue is a mission statement in the FF+ constitution which reads: “The Freedom Front Plus is irrevocably committed to the realisation of communities', in particular the Afrikaners', internationally recognised right to self-determination, territorial or otherwise; the maintenance, protection and promotion of their rights and interests, as well as the promotion of the right of self-determination of any other community, bound by a common language and cultural heritage in South Africa.”

Max said, “It is evident from section 3 that the words ‘in particular the Afrikaners’ right to self-determination' enjoy priority and supersede that of any other community,” said Max.

Max said after taking up party membership, a new member is deemed to agree with and support the mission of the party as stipulated in section 3 and the foundational premise of the FF+ that Afrikaner national unity must be promoted, the Afrikaner nation’s right to self-determination, that is the right to govern itself in its own state, will be pursued as a non-negotiable right and that a unitary state as well as any other form of state where others can politically govern the Afrikaner nation and where it may possibly be assimilated by others is unacceptable to the FF+.

He was also troubled by section 19 of the party’s constitution which states that the battle flag of the former Boere republics, now known as the Freedom Flag of the Afrikaner, is the official flag of the FF+ and must be displayed at all its public gatherings.

In his resignation letter, Max says he had raised his concerns with the party’s Western Cape leader Corné Mulder who had assured him the party was reviewing the problematic clauses to be more inclusive, given that it has people of colour as members.

 Max said given the undertaking by Mulder, he joined the FF Plus despite warnings from his confidantes that, as they put it, “dis ñ boere party en hulle gaan jou behandel soos tydens apartheid” (this is a boere party, and they will treat you like it was during apartheid).

But despite the promise to bring about the changes, no such amendments have been made. “To believe Corné was a serious mistake. That’s why I made this conscious and principal decision to quit FF Plus,” he said. “It is trite that the constitution of any political party is its identity and heartbeat, meaning that what is stated therein is law. Any party dispute has to be decided on those provisions. 

“As with the FF Plus, the political rhetoric and party manifestos do not necessarily represent their constitutional principles and can be misleading. In my view, (those) clauses in the FF+ constitution exclude any other racial group. I can’t, with a clear conscience, request people of colour to support the FF Plus,” said Max.

He said the relevant sections were irrefutable proof that the FF+ constitution focuses exclusively on advancing Afrikaner interests, as it makes no provision for the protection and advancement of the rights of any other community.

“It is thus evident that any person who says that the FF Plus constitution is inclusive and caters for everybody is either mentally impaired or seriously underestimates the voter’s intellect.”

Last November, Max was elected one of the FF+’s two deputy chairs in the Western Cape and has been the party’s councillor in Cape Town.

In his statement, he reveals that he did not avail himself for nomination to the provincial legislature or to parliament. He also refused to participate in campaign activities “because I would not mislead the coloured and other people”.

“Though I am, like millions of South African citizens, unhappy with the direction of our government, I cannot support a system that will take us back to pre-1994, and as a result, I am resigning from the FF+ today. I profoundly apologise to the coloured people and other communities in the Western Cape and the rest of the country who followed me to support the FF Plus in 2021.”

Max said he was not in talks with any political party and will focus on his legal practice. 

“However, I am open to any offer that would enable me to use my skills and further contribute to the safety of our people in SA in whatever way possible. Party politics has no consequence for me, but the people’s interests will always prevail.”

Mulder hit back, dismissing Max’s characterisation of the party as an apartheid party as “absolute nonsense” and that anyone who claims the FF+ is a party that is exclusive or is trying to exclude people is not dealing with the truth.

He said the party had members and representatives from all communities and this was evident at its manifesto launch.

He confirmed having a discussion with Max when the latter joined the party three years ago about section 3 of the party’s constitution.

Mulder said the section was drafted in March 1994 when the party was formed and the wording was agreed to at that stage with regards to its mission and founding statement.

“About seven or eight years ago, it rewrote the mission statement to reposition the party and to make it inclusive to all minority groups and to reach out to everybody.

“And I explained to him when he joined the party that the mission statement is inclusive, it doesn’t exclude anybody. I also said to him the founding statement was written in the context of a political landscape of 1994 and that’s why it refers to ‘we are against communism’ etc. That was just after the Cold War and the (fall of) Berlin Wall.

“I said as a party we will look into the process and see if we can modernise the statement. Then we started the process internally to see whether that’s possible. The committee at the time decided that you can’t change the foundation statement because that’s the statement the party was founded on 30 years ago. That’s the same as saying the ANC must change the Freedom Charter of 1956, you can’t.”

Mulder said it was decided that the founding statement can’t be rewritten as that would be changing history.

“What we would do is to amend the constitution not to expect of people who join the party to subscribe to the mission statement of 30 years ago.”

They would only subscribe to the mission, and be expected to declare loyalty to the party.

That process is under way, he said.

Mulder said he found it strange that Max didn’t have a problem with the constitution when he ran as FF+ mayoral candidate in 2021 or when he was elected as one of the Western Cape’s two deputy chairs last November.

“Nothing has changed in terms of the policy or anything, but now suddenly it is a problem, I don’t accept that.”