Motion of no confidence looms for Patricia De Lille

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille’s reign may be cut short sooner than she expected.

Her colleagues at the City of Cape Town DA caucus have voted to table a motion of no confidence against her.

It is not yet clear whether the motion will be moved in next week’s council meeting. However‚ that meeting‚ to be held on January 31‚ is expected also to cover a motion of no confidence tabled by the opposition ANC. The party had been running a long campaign against De Lille‚ starting with complaints about security upgrades at her house.

The ANC also played a significant role in forcing the council to start a probe into the conduct of city transport commissioner Melissa Whitehead over her role in the purchase of electric buses from Chinese company BYD.

Western Cape DA leader Bonginkosi Madikizela confirmed that the vote went against De Lille‚ with 84 councillors voting for the motion and 59 voting against.

“We have a responsibility as the leadership of the DA to give guidance to the caucus in terms of the outcomes of that motion. The first thing is that that motion must be taken to the FedEx and then the FedEx must give guidance to caucus‚” said Madikizela.

He said the matter was urgent and that the party’s federal executive should convene to consider the matter.

“This was conveyed to the federal chairperson last night and I think he will convene a special meeting and I think you will be informed as the media‚” said Madikizela.

He said he could not speculate on whether the federal executive would endorse the decision for a motion of no confidence or if it would overturn it.

In a statement‚ Madikizela said the motion‚ brought by councillor Mercia Kleinsmith‚ was thoroughly debated at Wednesday’s meeting. De Lille was also present at the meeting after a court ruling granted her permission to attend.