DA leader fumes as ANC 'petty politics' hands stay of execution to De Lille

Patricia de Lille will be fired as mayor of Cape Town within 10 days.

The DA’s plan to get rid of De Lille at Wednesday’s council meeting was sunk by the ANC when it withdrew its motion of no-confidence in De Lille.

The DA caucus‚ which a week ago voted by 84 to 59 in favour of a motion that the 66-year-old should be relieved of her mayoral chain‚ had now tabled its own motion of no-confidence with Speaker Dirk Smit‚ provincial DA leader Bonginkosi Madikizela said on Wednesday. It would be debated with 10 days.

Earlier‚ Madikizela said the DA federal executive — the party’s main decision-making body when the federal council and federal congress are not in session — had given permission for DA councillors to vote with the ANC.

But ANC caucus leader Xolani Sotashe told TimesLIVE: “We won’t help the DA remove De Lille. They must do it on their own. There are bigger problems in the DA administration than De Lille.”

Madikizela was infuriated by the ANC’s change of tack. “While they had initially claimed that their motion was brought on by numerous allegations of maladministration against the mayor‚ they have demonstrated today that they would much rather engage in petty party politics than do what is best for the people of Cape Town‚” he said.

The federal executive decision to fire De Lille pre-empts the findings of an investigation by the DA federal legal commission‚ ordered on January 7 when party leader Mmusi Maimane said the mayor was being relieved of responsibility for managing Cape Town's Day Zero crisis.

Since then‚ the auditor-general has downgraded the city’s audit status from “clean” to “unqualified with conditions”‚ linking the findings to controversies involving De Lille.

“This is wholly unacceptable and is not in line with the DA’s commitment to clean‚ open and accountable governance‚” said Madikizela.

“While the DA federal executive believes in the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise‚ and agreed for the mayor to be subjected to internal processes to clear her name‚ continuous acts of defiance from her and new damning revelations have resulted in her own caucus tabling this motion.

“Commitment to the principles that the DA stands for is never easy. Putting the residents of Cape Town first is our number priority‚ something that the ANC has never been able to do. We will therefore move ahead with this motion in order to restore Cape Town to the best-run city in the country.”