‘De Lille has a case to answer’

THE DA says mayor Patricia de Lille has a case to answer – and will, sooner or later, have to do so.

Natasha Mazzone, DA federal council deputy chairperson, has responded to the Cape Argus report that the DA went ahead and charged De Lille without its federal executive seeing any evidence of wrongdoing, it admitted in court papers.

Mazzone said a sub-committee headed by party chief whip John Steenhuisen was presented with evidence against De Lille, as they were tasked with investigating if there was a prima facie case for De Lille to answer. She also said the DA’s federal executive (FedEx) was a decision-making body, not an investigative one. “This is precisely why the FedEx instructed the party’s chief whip, John Steenhuisen, to head a commission to investigate accusations of maladministration and nepotism levelled against Ms De Lille,” Mazzone said.

No amount of diversion and subterfuge by De Lille would detract from the independent investigation conducted on the instruction of the entire council, and that found prima facie evidence of gross misconduct and dereliction of duty.

De Lille, however, hit back.“Mrs Mazzone must read the court papers. I respect the courts, and I work on the basis of what the DA has said under oath. Mazzone must stop scoring own goals on behalf of the DA, because the World Cup is in Russia, not here,” De Lille said.

Mazzone said the report on the findings of the Steenhuisen commission was considered by FedEx, not the evidence the commission had seen. “The findings contained in the Steenhuisen report stated that her leadership style was divisive, autocratic and made it difficult for councillors to carry out their duties,” Mazzone said.