Independent Newspapers has come to a settlement agreement with former Cape Times editor Alide Dasnois, who was sacked in 2013.

Her legal team received the settlement offer on Friday, and it was announced in the Labour Court in Cape Town on Monday.

At the time many felt her removal was related to an article on an adverse finding by the Public Protector regarding an R800m fishing vessel management tender awarded to a subsidiary of Sekunjalo, the holding company of Independent News and Media SA.

The SA National Editors Forum and the Cape Town Press Club demanded an assurance that it was not a case of editorial interference by owners.

Independent News and Media SA chairperson Iqbal Survé denied this and said the publication had been underperforming for several years and was not showing signs of improving.

Her decision to not run the news of former president Nelson Mandela’s death on the front page, opting instead for a wrap-around, was also questioned.

As part of the settlement agreement, Independent Newspapers withdrew accusations of racism and conceded that the reaction to the coverage of Mandela’s death was a matter of “a difference of opinion”.