DA vs De Lille war turns ugly
26 April 2018
While embattled Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille prepares for another round in her battle with the Democratic Alliance (DA), the party has decided to dedicate an entire page on its website to explain why she must go.
A page on its website, with a large image of the besieged leader, attempts to respond to frequently asked questions on "The Patricia De Lille Matter".
On Wednesday evening, an internal motion of no confidence against De Lille was supported by 70% of the DA Cape Town caucus during a special meeting – a move in preparation for her recall.
Her fate is now in the hands of the party's federal executive.
The long battle to remove De Lille has seen the party introduce a recall clause, which has been dubbed by many as the "De Lille clause", giving the party powers to remove its public deployees.
On the site, the party outlines findings of investigations against De Lille, the Auditor-General's findings and why the DA took a decision to charge the popular political leader.
"Ms De Lille's attempts to garner public sympathy by misrepresenting and spreading alternative facts can only be an orchestrated attempt to detract from the significant allegations against her and to mislead the public she is meant to serve with integrity befitting her current office," the party said on the page.
De Lille, who posted a video of herself wearing boxing gloves on social media following her party's announcement, said she expected the outcome and was already preparing herself for another fight.
She is expected to make representations to the DA's federal executive on why she should not be removed.
