The Democratic Alliance(DA)’s process to elect a new mayor for Cape Town is to start immediately.
This after Patricia de Lille announced her resignation Sunday morning following a long battle with the party.
Speaking at a joint media briefing with De Lille, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said her resignation will take effect on October 31.
He says: “Mayor Patricia de Lille has agreed to resign as Mayor of Cape Town effective from 31 October 2018. What we will do as a party is to ensure that we begin the process of electing a new mayor with immediate effect. I also want to state that the DA has made a decision to withdraw all internal disciplinary charges against Patricia de Lille. Any other investigations that are taking place in the city fall outside this particular agreement.”
Meanwhile, De Lille says she feels relieved that she has cleared her name and she can now focus on the future.
“What our country needs, more than ever before at this point in time of our history, is for leaders to put their differences aside and work even more harder to address the historical imbalances of the past.
“Now, whilst I’ve been fighting for my rights to prove my innocence and although I was ready to proceed with the disciplinary hearing, I also realised that this fight between myself and the DA cannot continue forever. I’ve decided to step aside and look into the future,” De Lille explains.
Watch POLITICAL ANALYST PROF TINYIKO MALULEKE give analysis on this below
