Cape Town DA storm: De Lille’s head on block

Party’s executive to decide her future on Sunday Mayor faces allegations of maladministration and corruption

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille is on the ropes and by Sunday could be left without a leadership position in the DA and stripped of her mayoralty.

The party’s federal executive will meet on Sunday to decide her future after allegations of maladministration and corruption were raised against her in late 2017. De Lille was placed on suspension from party activities pending the outcome of investigations into the allegations.

She was then given until last Friday to give reasons for why she should not resign as Cape Town mayor.

There has been mounting tension within the top echelons of the City of Cape Town since 2017. De Lille resigned as leader of the DA in the Western Cape in January 2017.

At the time, she said she was doing this so she could focus on her role as mayor.

However, her sudden resignation came after a bruising fight with party heavyweights, which included Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, during which De Lille was forced to back down on a key appointment to her mayoral executive committee. This was linked to a succession race in the party for the premiership of the province in 2019 and a broader fight between DA loyalists and remnants of the former Independent Democrats, which was formed and led by De Lille.

The Independent Democrats merged with the DA in 2010.

DA Cape Metro chairman Grant Twigg issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the regional executive had resolved to recommend to the Western Cape provincial executive committee, the federal executive and the City of Cape Town caucus that De Lille be removed as mayor.

“Patricia de Lille has lost the confidence of the metro executive, the relevant political authority,” he said.

“We are of the view that the City of Cape Town requires stability, unity and functionality, which we believe she cannot deliver,” Twigg said.

It seems the factional power play in the DA is not over, with De Lille, in response to the regional statement, saying that the attacks against her had to

do with power and positions. “This is yet another example of the flagrant disregard for process within the DA in their rush to get rid of me and make … Bonginkosi Madikizela the next executive mayor,” she said.

Madikizela, who is said to be close to Zille, replaced De Lille as Western Cape leader.

Federal executive chairman James Selfe said the regional executive should not have taken any decision to recommend that she be removed.

That decision was up to the federal executive, and he said that the region’s views were “interesting but irrelevant”.

Selfe said there had been two inquiries into allegations against De Lille, which included her style of management in the city and alleged maladministration.

There was an internal party inquiry led by John Steenhuisen and an external one conducted by lawyers Bowman Gilfillan.

The Bowman Gilfillan investigation came after executive director in De Lille’s office Craig Kesson reportedly made allegations of wrongdoing by the mayor in a sworn affidavit. This was in connection with alleged corruption in relation to a MyCiTi bus tender.

Selfe said the federal executive would on Sunday examine the reports from both inquiries and the submissions made by De Lille.

“As a result of that, the party will have to make up its mind on what to do.

“What to do is quite complex in law, so we are going to look at [it] very carefully, very respon- sibly and we will take a decision on Sunday, one thing or another, and then consequential action will flow,” he said.

The DA’s federal executive has instructed structures of the party to refrain from making comments in the media on the matter.

De Lille, however, claimed the statement sent out by Twigg did not represent the City of Cape Town DA caucus because it had never met.

She said that following the statement, she had received numerous calls from branch members, who had told her that they were never consulted on the statement released by the regional executive nor had they given the regional executive a mandate.