Patricia de Lille says she will stay on as Cape Town mayor until next year's local elections, when she will once again be the DA candidate for the post even though she has thrown her hat into the ring for the party's provincial leadership.
Yesterday, De Lille confirmed she had entered the race to lead the party that governs the Western Cape and Cape Town - the only province and metropole not ruled by the ANC.
The party's elective conference takes place next month.
De Lille, 63, said her motivation was to ensure the DA takes charge of the Western Cape municipalities still run by the ANC.
"For too long the people in those ANC-run municipalities have been left behind as the rest of the province progresses," she said.
De Lille said she had been thinking about standing as DA provincial leader for a while and denied that her decision had been prompted by the ANC winning a by-election in the Ceres municipality and taking a ward from the DA.
The Karoo town of Oudtshoorn has been a festering sore for the DA. Despite the DA having the majority of councillors for more than a year, the ANC coalition has not surrendered power.
"We have won three court cases against the ANC [coalition] and they have stalled and appealed the verdicts and done everything to keep a grip on power," she said.
In a dramatic turn of events, DA Western Cape leader Ivan Meyer yesterday withdrew from the race and backed De Lille, who will come up against former Western Cape police commissioner and Community Safety MEC Lennit Max.
Although Max enjoys some support in the Western Cape, party sources believe he does not have the political clout to beat De Lille.
De Lille will be running with Western Cape human settlements MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela as her deputy and local government MEC Anton Bredell as the provincial chairman.
Political analyst Daniel Silke said De Lille's decision was a strategic move by the party ahead of leader Helen Zille's possible retirement.
Political analyst Susan Booysen said De Lille was a good candidate for the position.
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