De Lille still faces charges
Mayor wins the battle but ‘war’ within DA continues
MAYOR Patricia de Lille might have survived the no-confidence motion by a whisker, but the DA’s internal charges against her still stand – something she is ready to fight.
“I have won this battle and I am very grateful for the support of the councillors within the DA and those in the opposition parties. I am, however, still available to be placed through any due processes. I have always just asked for a fair chance,” De Lille said.
Bonginkosi Madikizela, DA provincial leader, said the decision by the caucus to charge her followed a number of damning allegations pertaining to maladministration and governance failures.
“The Federal Legal Commission’s investigation against the mayor is ongoing and its findings will be communicated in due course. It is important that the City of Cape Town leadership now gets back to the business of dealing with this unprecedented drought crisis and delivering services to the people of this city.
“We will ensure that the interests of the people of Cape Town are always put first, and we will do all that is possible to ensure that this happens,” Madikizela said.
During a chaotic council meeting last week, 109 councillors voted in favour of the motion‚ even though the DA has 154 of the 231 council seats. Votes against totalled 110, meaning the motion was defeated.
Some DA councillors were clearly upset with the loss, as most left the council chamber within minutes after voting.
“The motion before council arose from the fact that I was already found guilty on untested allegations. All of these untested allegations were used to smear my name for the past six months,” De Lille said.
“Despite relentless efforts to get rid of me, the vote (last week) shows that the truth will always survive. I maintain that all allegations must be tested in an open and transparent process.”
On dealing with a divided caucus, De Lille said: “I am not a vindictive person, so I am not going to get people back for what they did to me. I am going to work with the councillors to keep on building what we have here in Cape Town.
“We have a serious water challenge here in Cape Town and that is what we are supposed to focus on. I will not be firing anyone from my mayco though,” she said.
The ANC in the council had previously tabled a motion of no confidence in De Lille, but withdrew it at the 11th hour citing that they did not want to be part of the removal of De Lille “via the back door”.