Resolving De Lille dispute likely to top agenda at DA federal council meeting

How will the Democratic Alliance resolve its dispute with Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille?

This question will likely take centre stage when the party’s federal council meets at the weekend.

At the meeting‚ the DA’s executive is expected to discuss the way forward after the Western Cape High Court last month ordered that the termination of De Lille’s party membership was illegal and invalid‚ effectively reinstating her.

Shortly after the court ruling‚ the DA threatened to institute another motion of no confidence against De Lille in the City of Cape Town’s caucus. The party also said that De Lille would then be susceptible to internal disciplinary hearings.

Neither of these processes has come to fruition.

Speaking to TimesLIVE‚ the party’s deputy federal executive chairperson‚ Natasha Mazzone‚ said the DA was still inspecting the court judgment and would decide on the way forward thereafter.

“It was one of the possibilities that a motion of no confidence was going to be put on the table. I have not spoken to the City of Cape Town yet so I don’t know.

“We don’t get involved with their motions at all; they do everything on their own volition‚” she said.

“The federal council sits this weekend and the federal executive is re-established. The party is busy looking at the court judgment and what kind of consequences the court judgment has for us. It (what action will be taken against De Lille) is dependent on what happens at federal council this weekend and what legal advice we get on the outcome of the court judgment.”

Asked if the party would be willing to come to an amicable agreement that would see De Lille remain in her position‚ Mazzone said the DA “is open to every possible avenue”.

“The party is open to every possible avenue available to it that would seek a solution to this problem. We’ve said that from word go our biggest concern is that we operate within the best interests of the City of Cape Town and the residents of Cape Town‚” she said.