Ruling awaited in De Lille bid for secret ballot in council vote
BELEAGUERED Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille has to wait until this afternoon to find out if the high court will order a secret ballot vote in the motion of no confidence against her.
De Lille‚ whose fallout with the DA is playing out publicly‚ hauled the party before the Cape Town High Court after the chairman of its federal council‚ James Selfe‚ advised councillors in the city that they were bound to support the motion.
The application was heard on an urgent basis yesterday and counsel locked horns until after 5pm.
De Lille was mobbed by supporters as she arrived at the high court, and made her way through the singing crowd.
In a statement preceding the application‚ she said she was “seeking an order to ensure that all councillors in the City of Cape Town are free to vote according to their conscience‚ either in favour or against the motion of no confidence against me”. “I also demand a secret vote.” She said a number of councillors and DA branches had reached out to her and expressed fear of reprisals should they not support the motion.
The rift between her and the party has been widened by recent accusations of maladministration and corruption against her. She has accused the party of double standards.
The DA has since changed its stance and said there would not be repercussions for councillors who voted against the motion, after it sought legal advice.
Ismail Jamie SC‚ for the DA‚ dismissed De Lille’s application as a bid to hang onto her mayoral chain. He said there was no legal basis for the order sought by the mayor and asked the court to dismiss it.