Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has put on her boxing gloves to fight another day after her party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), succeeded in bringing a motion of no confidence against her. On Wednesday evening, 138 councillors debated the future of her role as mayor of Cape Town at a council chamber meeting. The new motion was brought by councillor Angus McKenzie after the DA’s approval of a so-called “recall clause”.
Natasha Mazzone, the DA federal executive member, released a statement shortly after concluding the three hour meeting saying: “This evening, 97 councillors voted for the motion, 41 voted against, 15 abstained/were absent and there was one spoilt ballot.”
Mazzone listed the reasons why a majority in the caucus lost confidence in De Lille saying she had breached the code of conduct of councillors and the DA’s constitution. She also touched on the independent Bowman Gilfillan report which found prima facie evidence against the mayor – the report has yet to be made public despite many calls for the results to be shared.
Last week, the City of Cape Town Caucus requested permission from the DA’s Federal Executive (FedEx) to proceed with an internal Motion of No Confidence in Patricia de Lille.
These reasons for the Motion of No Confidence included:
- The caucus had lost faith in Ms de Lille as she had repeatedly breached the Code of Conduct for Councillors as well as the Constitution of the DA, had brought the DA into disrepute and the breached of the conditions of her suspension
- That Ms De Lille’s conduct in the public domain has amounted to frequent criticisms of the DA and the DA’s management of her case, to the extent that it appears that she does not consider herself part of the DA any longer, or at least considers herself more important than it and above the rules of the party; and
- Her recent comment “she is no longer cooperating with the DA” means she cannot effectively govern on a DA mandate.
The next step is for De Lille to make submissions as to why she should not step down, following which the FedEx will deliberate on the submission and come to a decision on how to proceed. One option being that they will ask the Mayor to resign, in line with the Accountability clause.
De Lille took to Twitter to vent her frustration, putting up a video with boxing gloves on saying: “Next round! Let’s go!”
“This fight that I am having with the Democratic Alliance is like a boxing fight — you win one round, you lose one round. But in the end what is important is whose going to give the knockout,” she said while pulling a punch.
Next round! Let’s go! pic.twitter.com/z6McUFUlos
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) April 25, 2018
The embattled Mayor told News24 that she is overwhelmed by the support from ordinary Capetonians, and that she expected the end result – it just means the beginning of another round.
“I’ve said I’m always ready for a fight, and I will fight for fairness and I’ve fought for freedom in this country. So really, we will just go on,” she said.
“Please remember that this clause cannot be applied retrospectively. This campaign to taint my reputation and get rid of me without due process being followed with the disciplinary hearing is so desperate,” said De Lille.
If the federal executive ratifies the caucus’ decision, the mayor will be given 48 hours to resign, if she doesn’t her party membership will be terminated.
Picture: Twitter
