Suspension has links to W Cape poll
There is a storm in Cape Town and this time it has nothing to do with the elements and everything to do with the DA.
In a surprise move this week, DA leader Mmusi Maimane placed mayor of Cape Town Patricia De Lille on special leave. The mayor is barred from attending party meetings, including of the caucus which she leads, as well as other activities related to the party.
But she remains the mayor. This comes on the back of a spat between De Lille and JP Smith, the deputy chief whip in the metro. Smith too has been suspended, but only from participation in the business of the party.
It appears that there is a longstanding battle between De Lille and Smith which is about the consolidation of influence in the DA in the Western Cape since the time De Lille collapsed her Independent Democrats into the main opposition party.
What is curious is the trend in the DA to separate the persona of individuals between their public offices and party duties.
This of course began with the investigation into Helen Zille’s tweets on colonialism.
The notion that the separation between party and state in the DA is so defined and distinct that a public office bearer would have absolutely no influence over an investigation into his or her conduct is very hard to believe.
Both De Lille and Smith serve in their public portfolios on the basis of their party ticket.
Their absence from partyrelated meetings and activities does not fully guarantee that they will not come into contact with members of the party who serve in those structures.
Indeed in the course of their work they would have to interact with those individuals, some of them serve in different capacities within the metro, to ensure that the work of the Cape Town metro is not stalled.
The move by Maimane seems more to do with arresting tensions within the party in the lead-up to the election of a new provincial leader on Saturday.
The hearings look like an attempt at brokering a peace deal to prevent a full-on public split between the supporters of De Lille and Smith, who are already at loggerheads.