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In the next leg of the ongoing Patricia de Lille vs Democratic Alliance (DA) saga, the Cape Town Executive Mayor appeared in the Western Cape High Court on Monday to challenge the political party for the cancellation of her membership.

The DA’s counter argument was that De Lille stopped being a member of the party when she announced her plans to resign during a live radio interview, which is why they adopted the “De Lille Clause”.

This clause states that if a member of the party makes a public intention to resign, they will be automatically expelled.

The crux of  De Lille’s argument is that the DA acted in bad faith when it used the clause to expel her from the party in May. She also argues that the clause is in contravention of various sections of the Constitution, most specifically Section 3.5.1.2 of the DA’s Constitution.

De Lille’s legal representative, Advocate Dali Mpofu, announced in court that his client would resign as mayor of Cape Town if her name is cleared.

Mpofu also argued that the DA had used unlawful means to get rid of De Lille.
 
“They have failed previously because she has the support of some in the DA caucus and others in council. We are challenging this because they have shown double standards in handling this matter with other leaders like Ms Phumzile van Damme and Mmusi Maimane,” he said in reference to the ‘unlawful means’ used to expel De Lille from office. 
As it stands, De Lille now has only a ceremonial seat in office, as she has been barred from performing any mayoral duties that require her to make decisions independently, after being reinstated as mayor in the interim.
Court adjourned for the day, and will reconvene at 10am on Tuesday morning.

Picture: Twitter

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Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.