Judgment has been reserved in the case of Patricia de Lille in her court application to contest the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) decision to rescind her party membership and consequently her position as the Mayor of Cape Town.
Two judges at the High Court in Cape Town spent most of Friday listening to arguments whether De Lille should be re-instated as mayor or not. Advocate Dali Mpofu, who is representing De Lille, has argued that the DA’s decision to remove her as Mayor was unconstitutional.
He says the DA were left with no other option, but to invoke the cessation clause to remove De Lille after they failed to oust her through various disciplinary hearings over the past few months.
Mpofu says the party was also weary of bringing forward another motion of no confidence in De Lille, after losing the last one in the City of Cape Town council. Mpofu says the DA therefore used unlawful mechanisms to achieve what they could not do lawfully.
The DA’s legal team argue that her remaining as mayor would be undemocratic.
Meanwhile, DA leader Mmusi Maimane says his party never offered De Lille to keep the permanent position of Cape Town Mayor while the party argued the merits of her removal in court. Maimane said much as he has respect for De Lille, the DA holds the view that people should be held accountable for their actions.
He says the DA caucus had lost confidence in her leadership and therefore the right thing to do was to step down.
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