Cape Town mayor sacked by own party

Patricia de Lille’s administration came under fire over alleged corruption

The mayor of Cape Town, South Africa’s second largest city, was ousted by her own party on Tuesday after her administration came under fire over mismanagement and alleged corruption.

“Patricia de Lille is no longer the mayor of Cape Town because she is no longer a member of the DA,” the deputy chairperson of the Democratic Alliance’s federal executive, Natasha Mazzone, told AFP.

By being stripped of her Democratic Alliance (DA) membership, South Africa’s largest opposition party, De Lille loses her seven-year-old position as mayor and on the city council as well.

Defiance

The embattled De Lille vowed to legally contest her sacking.

She said she would be heading to court on Friday to challenge the clause invoked by the party to remove her from office.

“The clause is unconstitutional,” she told a media briefing in Cape Town, a few hours after the announcement of her removal.

The DA defended her axing by invoking a so-called “accountability clause.”

It allows that an executive office-bearer who has lost the confidence of his or her peers may be removed from office.

Around 70 per cent of the DA caucus had voted against the mayor in a motion of no confidence in April.

De Lille slammed the party’s handling of the disciplinary procedures, saying the clause was a quicker way for the DA to get rid of her than to go through “proper processes”.

Ian Neilson, the deputy mayor, will take over until the party’s supreme decision-making body elects a new executive mayor.

Internal tensions over De Lille had been brewing in the DA for some time. The mayor was criticised for her handling of Cape Town’s water crisis and over allegations of corruption and maladministration, leading to two investigations that flawed her conduct.