FedEx grants permission to Cape Town DA Caucus to test its confidence in Mayor de Lille

18 April 2018

Following a request by the City of Cape Town Caucus to bring a Motion of No Confidence in Patricia de Lille, the Federal Executive discussed this matter today and granted said permission.

The City of Cape Town DA Caucus is therefore now permitted to hold an internal Motion of No Confidence in its Caucus Leader, Patricia de Lille.

The Cape Town caucus has laid out to the Federal Executive, in great detail, factors which have led to them losing confidence in Ms de Lille to effectively lead them, in the DA’s unfailing commitment to continue delivering services to the people of the City, as we have done to highest standards for the past 12 years.

The reasons put forward by the Caucus include:

- The fact that they previously tested their confidence in the Mayor and found that an overwhelming two-thirds majority of the caucus had lost faith in her ability to lead them. This was due, on their version, to her repeatedly breaching the Code of Conduct for Councillors as well as the Constitution of the DA, relating to bringing the DA into disrepute and the breach 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 Accountability Clause adopted at the DA’s Federal Congress allows for the party to establish confidence in any member of the executive. However, this must be done to ensure that members of the executive (Mayors, Premiers and Presidents) are held to the high standard which has been set by the DA to serve the people who have elected us into government.

When a structure of the party, like the DA Cape Town Caucus, makes a case that they have lost confidence in a member of their executive, it is incumbent on the FedEx to consider the request. This is what the FedEx considered today and found that a Motion of No Confidence should be allowed to proceed.

The DA Cape Town Caucus must now provide 3 working days’ notice before the motion of no confidence is debated and voted on.

The DA is committed to clean and efficient government and pride ourselves on putting the people we serve first. It is important that the City of Cape Town leadership gets back to the business of dealing with the unprecedented drought crisis and delivering services to the people of this city. We will ensure that the interests of the people of Cape Town are always put first and will not hesitate to act to ensure that this happens.

Issued by Bonginkosi Madikizela, Leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape, 18 April 2018