Concerns about DA, De Lille saga

ON Tuesday, Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille returned to her office after the high court reinstated her pending a hearing to take place on May 25.

The court case will deal with De Lille’s application to review the DA’s cessation of membership clause, which she believes is unconstitutional.

The party invoked the clause to terminate her membership last week.

While both the DA and De Lille have claimed some victory from the judgment, what is clear is that the court’s consideration was based on the need for stability in the city rather than a definitive call on the substantive issues brought before it.

In the meantime, as this saga continues, there are two things that are of concern.

The first is the unfortunate tone of the DA’s reaction to the judgment, which it labelled as “not in the best interest of the people of Cape Town”. While the party has argued that the statement was fair comment, it does go against the spirit of respect for the judiciary and undermines the kind of decorum expected from political parties in respect to our courts.

The second point of concern is De Lille’s refusal so far to directly answer whether she indeed sent an SMS instructing a member of an interview panel to give the highest score to Achmat Ebrahim, whom she preferred for the city manager post.

On various media platforms, De Lille has avoided answering the question, choosing to rather point to what she says is the DA’s refusal to show her the SMS in question.

Regardless of the legal process at hand, there is no justifiable reason why De Lille cannot confirm whether or not she sent the text.

If De Lille did not undermine the laws of good governance, as suggested by the SMS, responding to this direct question cannot in any way prejudice her ongoing case.

If anything, her obfuscation on what should be a simple matter calls into question the credibility of her version.