The DA is a bunch of blue liars - Patricia de Lille on postponement of IEC telemarketing case
24 April 2019
The Western Cape High Court on Wednesday postponed its ruling on Good party leader Patricia De Lille's urgent application for an interdict against the DA.
Judge Robert Martin stated that he would not make a ruling on the issue until the court has made a final determination on whether the matter was urgent. The parties will return on Friday.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) last week ordered the DA to "cease and desist" from saying De Lille was "fired" from the DA, and also ordered the party to publicly apologise to De Lille within three days. This has not happened though.
Addressing a group of orange-clad supporters on the steps of the High Court, De Lille called the DA a "bunch of blue liars".
"They lied when they say they fired me, when in fact, they've got no evidence whatsoever..." said De Lille on Wednesday.
"I also – in my papers that is going to come before the court on Friday – show them an SMS that I received from Mmusi [Maimane] where he actually says he feels with me because he knows what it is to be marginalised in that party.
"So he's admiring me and then the 'laptop boys' cabal are fighting this case, so there are big divisions in the DA and it is being shown in this case," De Lille said.
"I will offer my services to the DA; I want to teach them how to tell the truth," she added.
News24 previously reported that De Lille has accused the DA of trying to tarnish her and her party's name, and has therefore sought urgent relief in the High Court to interdict her former political party.
Legal representative for the DA Advocate Ismail Jamie argued that the matter was not urgent and did not warrant the urgent adjudication sought by De Lille's legal team.
Jamie said "urgent matters are for matters that are actually urgent".
"They (De Lille and her party) were content to wait from 28 February to 15 April [to launch their legal challenge] and this challenge amounted to an abuse of court processes," Jamie said.
The DA meanwhile has opted to take the decision of the IEC on review, on the basis that "that the IEC lacked any legal power to issue such a directive, the inconsistency and a lack of impartiality on the part of the IEC, and because it was wrong to uphold the complaint on its merits", said Mike Moriarty, the DA's Principle Representative of the Party Liaison Committee on the IEC.
At a media briefing in Cape Town on Tuesday, Maimane confirmed they had taken the matter on review.
He challenged the semantics of the use of the term "fired" and said the IEC could not make "arbitrary" judgments.
"It will end up at the Electoral Court," Maimane said. "To us, we are not worried about that. We will see everyone in court."
