DA FedEx confirms the cessation of Patricia de Lille’s membership

Please see the original charge sheet. Please see the frequently asked questions.

The Democratic Alliance leadership would like to provide feedback to the residents of Cape Town and the people of South Africa regarding the matter between the party and Mayor Patricia de Lille.

The party is deeply concerned about the impact this has had on the residents of Cape Town – the people we serve – and the general public. It is no secret that the DA has suffered immeasurable damage because of this issue due to the lack of information presented to our voters.

That is why -when it was legally permissible to do so- the party has sought to be as transparent as possible as to what led to the disciplinary matter between Ms De Lille and the party.

At all times, the DA has followed due process in addressing the matter, while acting in the best interests of all the people of Cape Town and abiding by our deep commitment to delivering clean, accountable and transparent government wherever we may govern.

In the latter part of 2017, the leadership of the Democratic Alliance became aware of problems in its representatives in the City of Cape Town. This resulted from both tensions in the caucus as well as allegations of maladministration involving senior politicians and officials in the City.

Confronted with this, we appointed a sub-committee of the Federal Executive, under the chairpersonship of John Steenhuisen, to look into these matters. At roughly the same time, the City itself appointed the law firm Bowman Gilfillan to investigate the allegations of maladministration.

The Steenhuisen sub-committee interviewed a number of councillors and officials of the City and was provided with documentation. It came to the conclusion that there were matters that pointed to prima facie misconduct in terms of the DA Constitution, as well as other matters that required further investigation.

The Federal Executive, after inviting the Mayor to provide an account of these matters, decided on 14 January this year to charge her with misconduct. A charge sheet was served on her and is provided herewith. We had hoped to conclude this matter within two months. We believed that this was in the interests of both the Mayor and the Party. However, instead of cooperating with the investigation, the Mayor challenged the Party’s processes by introducing a number of interlocutory matters, including that the hearing be open to the public and that it should be conducted by independent persons.

This is simply not the way the Party works. Our processes are regulated by the Constitution of the DA and the Rules of the Federal Legal Commission. There are not one set of Rules for Patricia de Lille and another for others in the Party. However, the consideration and adjudication of these matters hugely delayed the processes, with the result that the substantive issues on which she stands accused have not yet been dealt with. In much the same way as Jacob Zuma, she wants her day in Court, but sets up barriers to getting there. Her actions were not consistent with someone who desperately wanted to clear her name. Instead, she sought to delay the process at every step.

While these processes were unfolding, the City itself was confronted with the first report by Bowmans. Pursuant to these findings the City Council resolved to suspend some officials, and to conduct further investigations into the conduct of both these officials and politicians, including the Mayor herself. These investigations are ongoing and will report in due course.

Both these investigations and the matters that had come to light in the course of them, caused the DA in the City to lose confidence in the Mayor and the way she was running the City. Early in January, a substantial majority of the DA Caucus requested us to permit them to move a motion of no confidence. We gave permission, and the motion was defeated by a single vote in the Council. Over 70% of her caucus voted for the motion; yet she remained Mayor thanks to the grace and favour of the ANC/EFF and some 40 DA colleagues.

Ever since the days of Peter Marais and Basil Petrus, the erstwhile Mayor of George, the Democratic Alliance has sought a mechanism where executive office-bearers in government can be held to account for sub-standard performance. We had for some time been mulling the introduction of an “accountability clause” which would provide that such an executive office-bearer who had lost the confidence of his or her peers could be removed from office.

At the recent Congress, the Party adopted such a clause not only because of the situation in Cape Town, but because we want our executive office-bearers to be persons who relentlessly serve the interests of the voters where we govern. We believed, and still believe, that any office-bearer who no longer enjoys the confidence of his or her peers can no longer serve in such a post.

I must emphasise that a motion of no confidence does not always relate to “allegations” or “charges”. It can be introduced because of inefficiency or even style. It is a political judgement, not a legal finding.

The Federal Executive has already received three applications from DA caucuses to introduce such motions in various executive office-bearers: from Matzikamma, from Cape Town and from Stellenbosch. The Federal Executive acceded to these requests, and in Matzikamma and Cape Town, the caucuses have voted that they had no confidence in the Mayor, in each case by overwhelming majorities.

The procedure thereafter is that the office-bearer is given the opportunity to make representations why he or she should not resign from that post (and not as a councillor or a member). These are considered by the Federal Executive, who must decide whether or not the individual must resign.

The Mayor of Matzikamma requested an extension, but the Mayor of Cape Town provided such representations, which included a demand that a number of members of the Federal Executive recuse themselves on the grounds that they were allegedly biased. While denying this, the members did recuse themselves. The remaining members debated the motion and the representations for approximately three hours, but adjourned the debate having received draft court papers from Ms de Lille challenging the validity of the accountability clause.

In the meanwhile, Ms de Lille took part in a radio interview with Eusebius McKaiser on Radio 702 on 26 April 2018. In the course of this interview, Ms de Lille on two occasions indicated that she intended to resign from the DA as soon as she “had cleared her name”. The first was as follows:

EM:  Let’s say the morning after you win the legal case, however, do you really want to still be part of the DA?

PdL: No, no, no, no, I’ve said it many times before, Eusebius, you know, the writing’s on the wall that people don’t want me for whatever reason.

On another occasion, Mr McKaiser asks:

EM: If I hear you, you are saying, ideally I want to clear my name, Eusebius, that’s why I am going to court and if I win this battle, and when I win it because I know I’ve done nothing wrong, then the morning after I have won the court case then I will resign from the DA.

PdL: I will walk away. You summed it up correctly.

The Democratic Alliance Constitution provides, in section 3.5.1.2 that

“A member ceases to be a member when he or she

3.5.1.2  publicly declares his or her intention to resign and/or publicly declares his or her resignation from the Party;”

Ms de Lille was invited to explain why she had not, as a matter of fact, ceased to be a member by virtue of this section when she admitted that she intended to resign. She attempted to argue that this referred to resigning as Mayor. The FLC found that the context showed very clearly that she intended to resign from the DA.

Accordingly, the Federal Executive resolved last night to endorse the finding of the FLC that her membership had ceased as of 26 April, the date of the 702 interview. We have informed Ms De Lille and City Manager of this fact.

The fact that she has ceased to be a member renders the other processes (the disciplinary and the operation of the accountability clause) moot. The Federal Executive did, however, support the motion passed by the caucus, and will apply the accountability clause should the need arise. The Federal Executive has therefore not at this point made any decision on the accountability aspect.

We wish Ms de Lille well in her future endeavours and thank her for the service she has given the Party.

This has been a confusing time for the citizens of Cape Town, for which the DA sincerely apologises.

Our priority is to restore stability and coherence to the City government so that we can continue to provide excellent and responsive services to the people of the City.

We recognise that we will need to rebuild trust with the voters and will do our utmost best to ensure that we get back to the business of governing Cape Town.

DA clarifies that ‘fake news’ post is not official DA content

The DA would like to clarify that the ‘De Lille Exposed’ post which has been shared on social media is not official content and has never been shared by our official DA platforms.

More importantly, this fake letter has never been used as the basis for any disciplinary matter between Patricia de Lille and the party.

It is unfortunate that a fake news post which makes use of the Auditor General’s signature has been shared as authentic content by many who have fallen prey to fake news on social media platforms. The DA has been in contact with News24 to ensure that the reporting on this matter is not ambiguous.

The damning findings against Ms De Lille which were presented by the AG to the City of Cape Town as part of his audit opinion are contained on our official website and are accurate. Click here to read them.

The DA is confident that this now clarifies that all content shared on our official party platforms is accurate and authentic.

DA FedEx meeting resolves to deliberate further on De Lille matter

This weekend, the DA’s Federal Executive (FedEx) –  the organisation’s highest decision-making body outside of Federal Congress – had its very first meeting following the party’s Federal Congress last month where new leadership was elected. The FedEx took this opportunity to make crucial decisions which are important as we head into an election period.

Among the matters considered was the Patricia De Lille case following the City of Cape Town caucus decision to move a Motion of No Confidence in Ms De Lille. They had advanced various reasons for why over 70% of the caucus have lost confidence in Ms De Lille as mayor. These reasons included the fact that she had repeatedly breached the Code of Conduct for Councillors as well as the Constitution of the DA, had brought the DA into disrepute, and breached the conditions of her suspension.

In addition, 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 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, Her recent comment that she is “no longer cooperating with the DA” means she cannot effectively govern on a DA mandate.

The FedEx had lengthy deliberations considering all elements of this matter. At all times the Fedex has approached this matter with the highest level of seriousness and thoroughness given the importance of the issues at hand. However, during the course of these deliberations we received legal papers from Ms de Lille advising that she intends approaching the courts. As a result we have suspended discussions pending legal advice. The Fedex will resume discussions early next week once the legal advice is at hand.

The Fedex will in the interim continue to impress upon the City of Cape Town caucus to remain focused on ensuring excellence in service delivery to the people of Cape Town.

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

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.

De Lille and the EFF

The DA notes the reports that the party has taken a decision to charge Cape Town Mayor, Patricia De Lille, over her attendance of the EFF’s Memorial Service in honour of Mama Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. These reports are simply untrue.

Ms De Lille’s attendance at the memorial yesterday is a matter between her and the EFF leadership and not the DA. A courtesy call to alert the DA about her attendance would have been welcomed.

As the DA, we received an official invitation from the EFF leadership and the Party sent the DA’s Free State Provincial Leader, Patricia Kopane, to commemorate Mama Winnie’s life and to pass on our condolences.

The DA regularly receives invitations from other political parties to address events or rallies and this is not in any way unusual. However, we do ask that the individual concerned informs the Party leadership.

The DA has, along with the nation, been mourning the death of Mrs Madikizela-Mandela and refuses to be drawn into mud-slinging in her name. it is simply inappropriate. The DA leader will be paying his last respects at the official funeral this coming weekend as he had done last week during his visit to the family home.

The DA notes the council decision taken by the City of Cape Town this morning regarding Mayor Patricia De Lille

We have noted the outcome of today’s vote of no confidence in Mayor Patricia de Lille, a vote the Mayor survived by the narrowest of possible margins.
It is important to also note that the vast majority of DA councillors expressed their lack of confidence in the Mayor and that she has survived in large part due to the support of the ANC and the other smaller opposition parties. 75% of the DA caucus voted in favour of the motion.
This means she in effect is governing without a party mandate. This is a serious undermining of the DA and the values and the electoral mandate which we were given by the people of Cape Town.
This then brings into serious question whether it can be said that the Mayor has the mandate of the electorate which voted for the DA.
The DA had lodged this MONC following an expression by the City caucus that they had lost confidence in the Mayor- an expression which the party could not ignore.
This decision by the caucus followed a number of damning allegation against De Lille pertaining to maladministration and governance failures, not least by an independent council investigation and the Auditor-General.
The Federal Legal Commission’s (FLC) investigation against the Mayor is ongoing and its findings will be communicated in due course.
It is important that the City of Cape Town leadership now gets back to the business of dealing with this 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 we will do all that is possible to ensure that this happens.

We will take Public Protector’s Vrede report on judicial review

The following statement was delivered today by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at a media briefing on the outcomes of the Party’s first Federal Council of 2018, which was held in Cape Town. Maimane was joined by the Chairperson of the DA’s Federal Council, James Selfe.
Over the past three days, the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance (DA) – the party’s highest decision making body between Federal Congress – convened in Cape Town for its first sitting of 2018. The agenda comprised of a number of pressing matters concerning the country and the Party. This press briefing serves to communicate the outcomes of the weekend’s sitting.
Zuma Exit
Since Federal Council last sat in October 2017, much has changed in South Africa’s political landscape. The election of Cyril Ramaphosa as President of the ANC has turned the mood of the nation, and has provided the basis for a true battle of ideas about the future of the country in the 2019 National Elections.
However, the manner in which Jacob Zuma is holding both the country and the ANC to ransom by refusing to leave shows how powerful he still is, and shows how deep rooted the network of corruption that he built runs.
As South Africans, we expect our leaders to put the interests of our country ahead of any party political or personal interests. And we expect this without fail. Cyril Ramaphosa’s remarks in Cape Town yesterday have shown South Africans what is most important to the new ANC President – unity within the ANC. For Ramaphosa, just like Zuma, it’s the ANC first and South Africa second.
A dignified and smooth leadership transition – as Ramaphosa calls it – is not in the best interests of South Africa. The immediate removal and criminal prosecution of Jacob Zuma and all his corrupt cronies within the ANC is what is in the best interests of the country. Swift and decisive action is what we need, not a Ramaphosa-Zuma talkshop.
Likewise, an amnesty deal for Jacob Zuma, shielding him from accountability for his crimes, is not in the best interests of South Africa. This should not even be discussed. Ramaphosa would be in breach of the Constitution – particularly the requirements for the NPA to act without fear or favour. We reject any form of an amnesty deal for Zuma as an insult to all South Africans.
There can be no special deals for Zuma. No legal fees paid by the state, no extra security, no protection from prosecution as a state witness. Nothing. He must face the full consequences of his actions. If he wants extra protection, there is no place as secure as maximum security prison. We will push on with the 783 counts of corruption that were erroneously dropped by the NPA almost a decade ago.
The DA will only accept one outcome from today’s special sitting of the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) – if in fact there is a decision. That is, the removal of Jacob Zuma and his cronies, and their immediate prosecution.
Jacob Zuma’s removal and prosecution will mark only the first step in getting our country back on track. The reality is that while Cyril Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma, and their respective factions in the ANC, are fighting each other, the lives of ordinary South Africans remain unchanged.
The levels of poverty and unemployment are perilously high, and constantly on the rise. Our education system remains dysfunctional, and our economy remains stagnant. Federal Council discussed and debated the state of the nation and we are more resolute than ever to move into a political space where we can debate ideas and policies, rather than personalities. The battle is now about who can create work and grow the economy, who can fix our education system, and who can create a safe and corruption-free country.
Our mission does not change based on the internal manoeuvring within the ANC. Our mission is to bring total change and a real new beginning to our beautiful land.
The DA remains the only party with the values and policies that can turn SA into a modern, prosperous nation. This is the fight we will continue, and this is the fight we will win.
Vrede
The report on the Vrede Dairy Farm project by Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, is absolutely disgraceful. There are manifold omissions in the report, and failures to investigate even that which is in the public domain.
There is no effort shown to probe the true corruption at the heart of the Vrede scam, and to hold those responsible accountable. Ace Magashule and Mosebenzi Zwane get off unscathed in what was a scheme that they conceived, planned and executed – along with the Guptas – to defraud the public of hundreds of millions of rand. After four years, Adv. Mkhwebane simply cannot blame lack of capacity for this embarrassment of a report.
We do not believe that we can let this stand. We were the original complainants in the Vrede matter. We have met with the Public Protector, and have visited the beneficiaries often to keep them posted on progress. We had expected some form of real justice for them, but this report has bitterly disappointed us and them. We must correct this.
Therefore, after consultation with our legal team, the DA has decided to take the Public Protector’s report on judicial review. Our lawyers are currently drafting papers, and we hope to launch this application later this week. Further details of such will be communicated in due course.
Policy
Five new policy documents integral to our vision for South Africa were tabled for discussion at this weekend’s Federal Council – on Higher Education, Safety and Security, Immigration, Human Settlements, and Social Assistance. These follow the policy documents tabled at Federal Council last year, on our plan to put an end to endemic corruption in government, and our plan to ensure that we create opportunity and jobs for the millions of South Africans locked out of the economy.
The DA’s Higher Education policy paper continues from our proposed three-tier model of funding all students, and focuses on fixing the country’s struggling universities and colleges. We foresee many different types of universities, some specialised in research and some working with companies to get students into workplaces to learn and work. The DA believes in adequately funding universities and fixing TVET Colleges whilst improving management and rooting out corruption from both. Ultimately, we will create world class universities in all of our provinces that will offer all current and many new relevant courses so that young people can get jobs.
Our Safety and Security policy paper pledges to radically overhaul the South African Police Service (SAPS) into a professional, modern, police service, which is passionate about serving and protecting communities, and combatting all crime – especially violent crimes. The DA is committed to seeing violent crime rooted out of our communities and will stand with woman, children, people in townships, rural communities and every South African who has been targeted by crime. We will work to train and develop police officers, increase the number of specialist offers and detectives, and improve service at police stations, and for all community policing forums.
Xenophobia needs to be tackled head on, illegal immigration must be prevented and the skills shortage must be addressed in South Africa. The DA’s Immigration policy paper therefore pledges to enforce the law, end the unchecked flow of illegal immigrants into our country, and attract highly skilled immigrants into our country. Our Immigration policy will be based upon having a ‘High Wall and a Large Gate’ to grow our economy, the region and Africa as a whole. We believe that we are a society embedded in an international community and will manage our relationships in that community to the benefit of South Africans and in pursuit of a fair and just world.
The DA’s Human Settlements policy paper pledges to quickly give people who qualify for government housing the ability to get a decent home. In order to create sustainable housing opportunities through inclusive urbanisation, we will give people ownership of the land they live on by giving them title deeds, create a single national housing list to cut down on corruption and launch a national housing audit to verify that only the real owners live in Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing. The DA understands the need to provide more options in terms of access to affordable housing and that people need to be given greater control and choice in terms of housing. We therefore pledge to greatly enhance the choices people have.
Finally, our Social Assistance policy paper pledges to enable every parent to feed their family. The DA will thus increase the Child Support Grant (CSG) to cover the nutritional needs of all children, resolve the current foster care grant crisis, increase capacity and funding for Magistrate’s Courts that have many cases related to social grants and maintenance, increase the number and quality of social workers and prioritise early childhood development. The creative use of the social assistance system will not only provide help from the government, but will also grow and transform the economy, bringing real change and creating a prosperous South Africa. We can defeat extreme poverty and give our children a better chance in life.
Federal Council also deliberated and discussed our Economic policy document. This policy will focus on fast-tracking internships for young people, and economic growth that is focused on small businesses, the mining sector, the agriculture sector, and financial services sector. The policy looks at how best to review the current approach to redress in our economy, and the establishment of a fund for the purpose of (a) funding SMMEs and (b) investing in basic education. This is key to ensuring jobs and opportunity are created for those still locked outside of the economy.
While these documents are not final DA policy, they form part of the formulation, adoption, and eventual implementation of bold policy options that will bring total change and a real new beginning for our nation. These policy proposals will go for further discussion with all party structures, as feedback and input from South Africans is critical to our policy process.
We have fresh ideas, a bold offer, and the ability to implement such policies in government come 2019.
Mayor of Cape Town
Federal Council discussed the matter of the imminent vote of no confidence in the Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia de Lille. While the situation is unprecedented and painful to all in the DA, the time has come for a fresh leadership team in the City to take that caucus forward and restore the faith of the public in what has been the crown jewel of DA governments until recently. The new leadership of the City will have to unite that caucus and focus on delivering excellent services and answering the many concerns of the public, so that we can deliver an even better result in the Metro and in the Province in 2019.
The public has our commitment that we will do what is right and what is in the best interests of the voters, no matter how tough it is. Unlike our opponents, we will not sweep under the carpet difficult or embarrassing issues, and we will act to uphold integrity and the faith of the public. This is the standard we hold the ANC to, and we hold ourselves to, and it is amply demonstrated in this matter.
Water
Federal Council noted and welcomed the efforts of all residents of Cape Town in pushing Day Zero back almost a month, to 11 May 2018. We thank all those doing their part in the collective effort to Defeat Day Zero.
Our task is not yet done, but if we continue to lower consumption, we will Defeat Day Zero in its entirety. As I outlined last week, the augmentation projects earmarked by the City of Cape Town to provide additional water are all on track with the first projects coming online later this month.
It is no secret that Cape Town is facing one of the greatest and most unprecedented droughts in over a century. However, it is not just Cape Town that is feeling the heat. There are large parts of the Southern and Eastern Cape experiencing much lower than expected rainfall – with consumption flat lining or rising.
I wish to clarify the role of national government in dealing with what is now a serious threat to millions of South Africans.
The responsibility for bulk supply and storage of water is 100% the responsibility of National Government, as per Section 3 of the National Water Act. This is the law, whether the Minister of Water and Sanitation likes it or not.
The National Department of Water and Sanitation – under the leadership of Minister Nomvula Mokonyane – is crippled by cadre deployment, financial mismanagement, inefficiency and corruption.
Worse yet, the Department has the worst levels of irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure in the country and clearly has a conflict of interest in the Western Cape, where they are in opposition. With an annual budget of R12.2 billion for infrastructure development, it is unconscionable that the Department has spent a total of only R5 million in the Western Cape in the past 3 years.
Despite Minister Mokonyane playing politics with the lives of our people, we are making considerable progress in our efforts to Defeat Day Zero in Cape Town. It is high time Minister Mokonyane takes a leaf from all other South Africans and Capetonians’ book and do absolutely everything possible to help us avoid droughts in any other cities. After all, it is both her legal and political duty to do so.
Federal Congress
The highest decision making body of the DA, Federal Congress, will meet on the weekend of 7 and 8 April 2018 in the Capital City, Tshwane.
The Federal Congress occurs at least once every 3 years, as per the DA’s Constitution. It is the supreme policy-making and governing body of the party. This year we will welcome thousands of delegates to the congress, as we map out the “Road to 2019”.
This year, all positions within the top tier of the party will be open for contestation. The nominations will open this month and close in March 2018, a month before the Federal Congress is held. The positions that are open for contestation are:

  • Federal Leader;
  • National Chairperson;
  • Three Deputy National Chairpersons;
  • Chairperson of the Federal Council;
  • Deputy Chairperson of Federal Council; and
  • The Federal Chairperson of Finance.

The open, competitive, and transparent nature of the elective process is something that we pride ourselves on, and this year promises to be as completive and robust as always.
We wish all those contesting for any positions at the Federal Congress the very best of luck.
Conclusion
The DA has an incredible challenge in the lead up to next year’s National Elections, and our structures are alive to the hard task ahead of us. Our dream for South Africa is attainable, honourable, and worth every battle we have to fight along the way. We are not doing what we do for the sake of governing; we are working to build a better country for all its people.

DA gives de Lille an opportunity to withdraw her misguided application

The DA has written to Patricia de Lille to invite her to withdraw the application regarding the upcoming Motion of No Confidence (MONC), tabled by the City of Cape Town Caucus against her.
Her application displays a lack of appreciation for the law and the relevant facts, as placed on record by the DA.
The application insists that the members of the DA Caucus be allowed to vote on the MONC in accordance with their conscience. The DA has already made it clear that this will be the case and that every Councillor is free to vote with his or her own conscience.
On the matter of a secret ballot, while the DA does not believe it is necessary given that members have the freedom to vote with their consciences, the decision on this matter must be made by the Council itself. Until such time that this decision is made and voted on, any challenge is premature.
Mayor de Lille’s final prayer in her application, that the DA federal and provincial executive be interdicted from ‘influencing’ Caucus members, has no legal basis and disingenuous, to say the least. Not only has she has failed to cite specific officer bearers she wishes to interdict, making her prayer unsustainable, she has failed to acknowledge that the DA has been clear that no threats or disciplinary action will be taken against Caucus members regarding their vote.
Should Mayor de Lille persist with her application, the DA will seek a punitive costs award for abusing the court’s process with pointless and unfounded litigation.
It is in the best interest of the people of Cape Town that this matter is resolved in an open and democratic manner and for this reason, we hope that Mayor de Lille reconsiders her current course of action.

De Lille’s court application is misguided

The DA notes Mayor Patricia De Lille’s urgent court interdict against the Democratic Alliance (DA) lodged this afternoon and our legal representatives are now dealing with this matter.
However, it is important to dispel a number of inaccuracies in the Mayor’s statement. In as so far as the free vote is concerned, the DA is a party which respects and upholds the Constitution. In the interest of the rule of law, we have not instructed councillors to vote in any particular way as per the Constitutional Court’s judgment in United Democratic Movement (UDM) v Speaker, National Assembly and Others 2017, in particular, how this applies to municipal councils.
In as so far as the secret ballot is concerned, this is a decision to be taken by the Council and not the DA. Their voting is done either by a show of hands, electronic voting or any other method decided by Council.
Therefore, the Mayor’s ‘urgent’ application is puzzling at best and vexatious at worst.

ANC puts petty politics ahead of the people of Cape Town

The ANC in the City of Cape Town has, this morning, withdrawn their motion of no confidence against Mayor Patricia de Lille that was to be debated in Council today.

While they had initially claimed that their motion was brought on by numerous allegations of maladministration against the mayor, they have demonstrated today that they would much rather engage in petty party politics than do what is best for the people of Cape Town.

The DA’s Federal Executive had taken an unprecedented decision to place narrow political interests aside and vote for the motion of no confidence due to the prima facie evidence against the Mayor brought to the fore by an independent council investigation and the Auditor General.

The ANC has been fully appraised of these facts. They are aware that the independent investigation took the view that the Mayor had demonstrated behaviour and actions which constituted gross misconduct, gross dereliction of duty, and conduct that amounted to deceiving Council.

In addition, they have full knowledge that the AG downgraded the City’s audit status from clean, to unqualified with conditions. These findings include:

  • Failures of leadership at the first level of assurance, which includes the Executive Mayor, and the subsequent governance breakdown that flows from that. It is worth noting that:
    • The vast majority of financial findings relate to the Transport and Urban Development Authority (TDA) which the Mayor has routinely and very publicly defended;
    • The AG found regression within the control environment as a result of poor leadership. These include:
      • Poor consequence management of senior managers, namely the Commissioner: TDA, in the execution of her duties as Mayor;
      • Poor leadership and degeneration of trust. This finding by the AG directly correlates to the Executive Mayor’s failure to allow officials to do their jobs and follow the control procedures of the law and regulations, as confirmed in the testimony of the former City Manager in the independent investigation mandated by Council;
      • Consistent loss of revenue within the TDA, which was allowed to continue systematically for years despite the AG alerting the City to this risk multiple times.  It is worth noting that the Mayor has consistently denied this fact and has given credence to the explanation of the Commissioner TDA, who has in fact been suspended and the subject of a disciplinary; and
      • Irregular expenditure, namely the preferential bias in favour of a supplier in the matter of the procurement of the BYD buses. This has been determined to be irregular by the AG and now constitutes a realized and dramatic risk to the City.
      • Public statements that the AG had vindicated her on upgrades to her home. However, the AG in the disclosure and listing of irregular expenditure in the financial statements has in fact found that these upgrades were irregular- exposing previous claims by the Mayor as blatantly false.

It is not surprising that the ANC have ignored these crucial facts in the interest of politicking.

The DA has tabled its own Motion of No Confidence against the Mayor based on the reasons stated above and this should be debated within 10 days of the motion being tabled with the Speaker of Council.

The decision to support today’s motion was made with the realisation that the findings by the AG and the independent investigation are damning and variant to the principles of DA governments which seek to be free of corruption, efficient and focused on delivery to the people that we serve.

This has been informed by the understanding that the governance failures which have been allowed to thrive under Mayor de Lille have completely compromised the City’s ability to deliver effectively. This is particularly concerning in light of the current drought crisis we find ourselves in. That is why the DA moved to remove her from the management of the drought as she sought to actively undermine the efforts to deal with it effectively.

She actively withheld information, misdirected officials, delayed budget decisions, interfered with project plans and undermined the rollout of augmentation projects as a result. Furthermore, she failed to push national government to fulfill its legal responsibilities – at the cost and risk to the residents of Cape Town. This is in of itself has posed a massive governance risk.

While DA Federal Executive believes in the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise, and agreed for the mayor to be subjected to internal processes to clear her name, continuous acts of defiance from her and new damming revelations have resulted in her own caucus tabling this motion.

Commitment to the principles that the DA stands for is never easy. Putting the residents of Cape Town first is our number priority, something that the ANC has never been able to do. We will therefore move ahead with this motion in order to restore Cape Town to the best run City in the country.