DA sends peace offer to ousted Patricia de Lille

In the latest instalment of the Patricia de Lille vs DA saga the party has offered an olive branch to the Cape Town mayor it ousted on Tuesday.

The party has proposed that the seat she occupied in the City of Cape Town council will remain vacant pending the outcome of the court case she has instituted against the party.

De Lille is set to go to the high court in Cape Town on Friday to interdict the city from declaring a mayoral vacancy‚ and she also wants the DA constitution’s clause on “automatic cessation” of membership declared invalid.

The former anti-apartheid activist was booted from the party Tuesday for allegedly saying in a radio interview that she would quit the DA once her various disputes with it are settled.

“The leadership’s burning desire is to replace me as mayor‚” De Lille said in court papers.

In a letter‚ tweeted on Thursday by eNCA’s Annika Larsen‚ the party's lawyers — Minde Schapiro & Smith - wrote to John Riley who is acting for De Lille.

They said “in order to avoid the need for unnecessary and costly litigation” they propose that the city will not “appoint a permanent mayor” over a certain period and that an acting mayor will be appointed instead.

The letter continues that “the effect will be that [De Lille] will not be a member of the DA‚ a councillor or the mayor. However‚ the seat she occupied on the council will remain vacant” until finalisation of certain court proceedings.