DE LILLE TO POSE A REAL THREAT

FORMER mayor Patricia de Lille has announced the formation a new political party. The move was expected after she parted ways with the DA.

De Lille is an old battle-axe. She has a solid track record in politics. She cut her teeth in the trade union movement during the Struggle days, was a member of the Pan African Congress and later formed the Independent Democrats.

Also expected was the DA’s reaction to her announcement. The DA said her party would be among 500 others who would be tested come election day.

“Ms De Lille’s latest political move is consistent with her brand over the years. She has, whenever it has been politically expedient, moved from one political movement to another,” DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi said.

He has a point. She has, in less than two decades, belonged to three different political parties. But this must be the least of the DA’s worries.

It should be more concerned about the impact her new party may have on DA supporters, most of whom are not white. De Lille’s acrimonious separation from the DA left the party’s petticoat hanging out. There is merit in her assertion that her exit from the mayor’s office started when she began to tackle the beast called apartheid spatial planning. Up to then, the DA had been comfortable with the status quo, keeping the disadvantaged confined to the periphery of the city’s CBD.

Astonishingly, it is the black and coloured people of Cape Town, particularly the Cape Flats – the main support base of the DA – who are most affected by the legacy of apartheid spatial planning. No wonder the DA had a sudden change of heart with regard to the Salt River land development. This may be a little too late.

Apartheid spatial planning can’t be addressed in a piecemeal manner. De Lille knows this. The DA has now also woken up to the fact, but she has the “dirt” on them. De Lille often alluded to a white cabal in the DA who stood in her way of seeking redress for the marginalised. Eradicating apartheid spatial planning has all the ingredients of a tasty election battle. While time will tell how De Lille’s new party performs, we hope it will take up innercity development for the poor. The DA needs to be given a run for its money on the issue. The disadvantaged in our communities have waited too long.

Peace.