ANC Statement on the Cape Town High Court ruling in the case of Mayor Patricia De Lille vs the Democratic Alliance

27 June 2018

The ANC in the City of Cape Town welcomes the court ruling in the matter of Mayor Patricia De Lille vs the Democratic Alliance, which amounts to a scathing indictment of the DA’s understanding of South Africa’s constitution and indeed the party’s own internal processes with regard to the rights of its members.

As the ANC, we have always maintained that any legitimate allegations against Mayor de Lille must be tested in the appropriate forums, particularly because the Mayor’s work seriously impacts delivery to the people of Cape Town.

Once again, the DA’s Natasha Mazzone has questioned and integrity of the court immediately after the ruling, incidcat

The court’s ruling forces the DA to answer tough questions about its internal processes, which have been laid bare as crass, crude and out of step with the country’s constitution.

The DA must now explain to the people of Cape Town why it has failed, time and again, to proceed with the much-touted disciplinary process against Mayor de Lille. All South Africans deserve an answer as to why the DA is consistently refusing to proceed with its disciplinary case against the Mayor and why they are refusing to ventilate the disciplinary process publicly. The public also deserves a clear explanation as to why the DA abandoned its disciplinary case against de Lille in favour of a short cut which was clearly illegal, as has now been ruled by a full bench of the Western Cape High Court. the question arises: What is the DA hiding?

The DA must immediately restore all the powers of the Mayor and allow her to continue the work of serving the people of Cape Town. The circus of the past six months has crippled her capacity to do her job and has seriously hampered the delivery of City services. Decision-making has been hamstrung by the cumbersome process which the DA has imposed on the people of Cape Town by making de Lille a “ ceremonial Mayor” instead of an Executive Mayor. The DA must immediately undo the damage it has inflicted on the City and assist the Mayor to start fixing the mess they have created in their desperation to get rid of her.  

At the core of this conflict is a political wrestle over the control of taxpayers’ money and how mega projects involving multiple millions of rands should be handled. The ANC is extremely concerned about how the infighting in the DA is negatively affecting governance and service delivery to our communities. 

The DA’s conservative white liberals want to protect and preserve the wealth of the City for its own cabal instead of running an inclusive city that prioritises African, Coloured and Indian businesses for service provision to the city.

The City of Cape Town is facing significant challenges, including a drought which the City and Province had ignored warnings about for many years. The Mayco that has been in charge since Mayor de Lille was, a according to Deputy Mayor Ian Niellson, reduced to 'a ceremonial figure who was welcome to drink tea in her office and drive CA1’, has approved mind-boggling rates and tariff increases (effective 1 July) which will result in completely unaffordable increases for most households, particularly the poor.

Furthermore, the mess created by the DA is not only confined to Cape Town; there is ample evidence that corruption in the DA-run municipalities of George and Knysna is causing havoc in the administration of these key towns on the Garden Route. The ANC calls on law enforcement agencies to deal swiftly with these allegations and to bring to book those responsible. The DA should stop covering up for their senior members who are implicated, not least mayors, municipal managers and senior officials, as well as the political leadership of the provincial government of Premier Helen Zille.

The ANC is determined to hold the DA to account and stands ready to champion the causes of our people for land, decent houses, clean water and jobs, especially for young people. We dare not to fail them.

Issued by Khaya Yozi, ANC COCT Caucus Spokesperson, 27 June 2018