The protracted fight between City of Cape Town Mayor, Patricia de Lille and the Democratic Alliance (DA) is set to continue in the Cape Town High Court on Monday.
A full bench will listen to all outstanding De Lille matters. She wants the Steenhuisen Report, which fingered her for corruption, to be set aside.
She is also challenging the DA’s Recall Clause and the constitutionality of the cessation of her party
The High Court ruled last month that De Lille would remain in her position as Mayor until a full bench sitting. However, last week De Lille was stripped of all her executive powers through a vote at a full council meeting.
Among the allegations by the DA is that she sent out an sms to an interviewing panel for a position of the City Manager, instructing them about her preferred candidate.
However, she insists that she wants to clear her name. ‘The analogy I use is that this fight that I’m having with the DA is like a boxing fight. You win one round but in the end what is important is who is going to give the knockout. ”
It all started last year with a public spat between De Lille and Mayco member, JP Smith. De Lille had shut down the investigating unit led by Smith, allegedly because the unit had investigated her and some renovations at her home in Pinelands.
She had accused Smith of overstepping his mandate and also that there was a faction within the DA which wanted her out.
The 26 April Eusebius Mc Kaiser interview where De Lille indicated her intentions to leave the DA, provided the alleged DA faction with the right ammunition. “The DA constitution provides in section 3512 that a member ceases to be a member when they publicly declare that he/she has intentions to resign or publicly say they want to resign from the party,” says Chairperson of the DA Federal Executive, James Selfe.
Some of the embattled Mayor’s problems within the DA include her caucus in the city passing a vote of no confidence against her, her party membership being rescinded, and therefore her mayoral position.
She has challenged these decisions in the High Court and was temporarily reinstated. However before the court hearing, she had been stripped of all executive powers as a Mayor.
A full bench is set to hear arguments from both sides on Monday.
