Mayor De Lille fears closed hearing puts job on line

EMBATTLED Mayor Patricia de Lille has for the first time admitted she stands to lose her job, after the DA refused to have her disciplinary hearing open to the public.

The disciplinary hearing, headed by Hans Moolman, has dismissed De Lille’s application for access to the public.

“I have every right to insist on a public hearing in an attempt to restore the damage to my reputation and to ensure that the process is not only fair but that it is also seen to be fair by the public,” she said.

De Lille will head for the courts to have the hearings be made open.

“On the issue of access to the hearing by the media, no ruling has been prepared. On this issue, a media company has made certain submissions for access contained in a letter to the Moolman panel,” she said.

De Lille understood the panel may be concerned about her supporters or opponents disrupting the proceedings.

“Such a situation can, however, easily be avoided by way of the imposition of conditions to prevent same, such as limiting the number of supporters that may be present,” she said.

“The bottom line is that a member of the public is entitled to see for him or herself, whether the proceedings are fair and should not have to rely on images or impressions by members of the media who attend.”

De Lille added that it could not be contended that this particular hearing concerned purely internal DA matters.