Cape Town - The Cape Town mayor, Mr Peter Marais, at the heart of a split in South Africa's opposition, announced his resignation yesterday, hours after the Cape High Court reinstated him in the post from which he was axed by the Democratic Alliance.
Mr Marais said he would give up both the job and his membership of the alliance as of midnight yesterday to throw in his lot with the apartheid-era New National Party and its pursuit of a power-sharing deal with President Thabo Mbeki's African National Congress. The alliance leadership forced Mr Marais out after he defied orders from DA leader Mr Tony Leon to resign.