De Lille vote: DA’s on its own
THE DA’s motion of no confidence in beleaguered Mayor Patricia de Lille is premature, say opposition parties, who have shot down the prospect.
They demand that the ruling party gets its house in order and focus on the water crisis.
DA provincial leader Bonginkosi Madikizela confirmed yesterday that the motion had been submitted to City Speaker Dirk Smit’s office and they were confident their councillors would vote in favour of removing De Lille, even without support from the opposition.
This despite the DA caucus deciding by 84 votes to 59 and one spoilt vote that it had lost confidence in De Lille during their meeting on January 25.
The DA would need at least 116 votes from its 154 councillors from the DA to oust the mayor, according to ACDP councillor Grant Haskin.
The DA had already been dealt a blow in its attempt to remove De Lille this week when the ANC made a U-turn at the 11th hour and withdrew its motion of no confidence in the mayor. De Lille was in the firing line from the DA after the auditor-general had downgraded the City’s audit status from clean to unqualified with findings.
“The first hurdle is that they (DA) have to have enough signatures of councillors to call for a special meeting. We are not going to sign that request. As far as I know the ANC is not going to sign too,” Haskins said.
“They are jumping the gun. Instead of the allegations against her (De Lille) being finalised and that she is proven guilty first, they are now jumping the gun and want to remove her anyway.”
He said his party had refused requests from eight DA councillors that they sign a petition for a special meeting to be called.
ANC chief whip in the City Noluthando Makasi said: “We still maintain that we are not going to be used by the DA for their agenda. If they want to remove Patricia, they must do it on their own.
“Our issue is not about removing Patricia as an individual, but to remove the DA from power.”
She said Madikizela had ambitions of becoming the mayor and this was confirmed by De Lille’s statement last month.
Safety and security Mayco member JP Smith and deputy mayor Ian Neilson were also seen as De Lille’s successors.
Madikizela disputed this yesterday, saying his focus was next year’s general election and his work as Human Settlements MEC.
“People must not assume that because of the outcome of the votes at the caucus meeting when the motion of no confidence was discussed, things will be the same. Caucus has taken a position and people will be expected to hold the party line. We have the majority of councillors. We do not need any support from the opposition if all our members vote according to the party position,” he said.
Political analyst Somadoda Fikeni described De Lille as a seasoned political fighter who was unlikely to go into the “sunset quietly”.
“If you cast aspersions that she might be corrupt, that’s about the only tool she has… She came into (politics) as a corruption buster of the arms deal. If you then accuse her of that, then she will fight like a wounded tiger and she is more likely to embarrass the DA for as long as she can be given the opportunity to do so,” he said.
Another political analyst, Keith Gottschalk, said the DA would have their motion passed.
“Any DA councillor who defies the Fedex order on how to vote will be charged by the DA disciplinary structure and expelled as a DA member and so dismissed as metro councillor.”