De Lille: Open the hearing
MAYOR Patricia de Lille has issued a stern warning to her party, saying she will take court action if the DA does not open her disciplinary hearing to the public for the sake of transparency.
The hearing against De Lille, in which she is charged with contravening the Federal Constitution of the DA, is set to get under way today.
But De Lille said the hearing will start off with an application by her legal representative to have one of the panel chairs, former DA MP Sheila Camerer, recuse herself.
“I am insisting that I want this hearing to be open,” De Lille said yesterday.
“The people of Cape Town need to know, we need transparency. It will be the first time that I will set my side of the case. My first condition will be, it must be open to the public and media.”
De Lille said that she did not believe that Camerer was “competent or suitable to hear the matter”.
Camerer was an MP for the conservative National Party for years, even serving as the apartheid government’s last deputy justice minister
The panel is also to be chaired by DA councillors Hans-Jurie Moolman and Pogiso Monchusi. Moolman yesterday declined to answer questions on recusal, as the matter was being treated with confidentiality and as though it was a “judicial one”.
He said, however, that De Lille was at liberty to bring before the panel an application to have one of the panellists recuse him or herself provided there was actual proof of bias.
DA Federal Council chairperson James Selfe said internal party disciplinary issues were not generally open to the public.
It was a “contractual relationship in which the public has no input or interest”, he said.
Selfe said De Lille was the one who constantly alleged that she is facing charges of corruption.
“It is true that there is a simultaneous investigation taking place in the City and, depending on its outcome, it is possible that further charges will be put to Ms de Lille.
“It is therefore, quite clearly, an internal matter between a member and the party. It is of no interest to the general public and has nothing to do with her relationship with the City of Cape Town Council. To suggest, as Ms de Lille does, that the hearing can only be fair if the public are able to assess it as such for themselves, is of course devoid of any truth in law or fact,” he said.
But De Lille disputed this, saying: “He (Selfe) doesn’t understand that I have been elected by two-thirds of the people of the City of Cape Town so obviously there is public interest. If the DA is so convinced about their case against me, then what are they worried about? I am the accused asking for the hearing to be open.
“If they had a watertight case, they would be happy to have an open hearing.”
In a statement yesterday, Selfe confirmed that De Lille is charged with contravening the Federal Constitution of the DA – specifically, charges of misconduct.
The hearing will be conducted in accordance with the Federal Constitution of the DA, and in accordance with the Rules of the Federal Legal Council, he said. “These processes and procedures are followed in all disciplinary matters, regardless of who the particular member is. Ms de Lille, having herself served on the Federal Executive of the DA for many years, and viewed the disciplinary process up close, had no issue with it until now,” he said.
De Lille said she did not know what the charges levelled against her are.
“Where are the charges? Who are the people that have complaints against me? Can you give us a list of their names because they must now come and sit there and be cross-examined by my lawyer,” she said.
De Lille will be represented by Johan de Waal.
THE DA vs De Lille saga should be a cause for concern for the party as many persons of colour are awaiting the outcome with interest. The ultimate findings of the disciplinary hearing against Patricia De Lille could come at a cost for the DA.
Many want to believe she is innocent, as she maintains, as it would be strange for someone who has been a fierce opponent of corruption in the past to find herself in such a dilemma. I am glad she is fighting tooth and nail to hold on to her position and to restore her reputation as there might very well be sinister reasons for the DA’s battle to get her removed from her seat.
Perceived to be a very hands-on mayor during the water crisis and other issues that required intervention, it would be a huge disappointment to many if the mayor was to be found guilty of these charges as she holds a certain trust among coloured communities. It also remains sad to see how often strong, outspoken women in positions of power in politics are being attacked for merely doing their jobs without fear or favour given the patriarchal nature of domestic politics.
I hope the DA is aware of the impact their persecution against De Lille will have on the general perception of the party among persons of colour. The coloured vote is a significant factor in elections, especially in light of the particular race dynamics of the Western Cape. Should De Lille therefore be found to be innocent, coloured communities will start to re-evaluate whether the DA can truly be a home for all in the Western Cape and shed its “white dominance” image among nonwhite communities. Sheronica Martin Blackheath