Cape Town - Mayor Patricia de Lille said she was the only glue that currently kept the DA together, but warned that the top brass in the party would soon start fighting each other.
“When I am gone, you will see how they start fighting each other.”
De Lille was guest speaker at the Cape Town Press Club where she reflected on her last 18 troubled months in office.
“I wish I knew what the problem was with the DA. But all of this started when JP Smith laid charges against me with the DA.
“He and others accused me of using state money to upgrade my own house. Now that report has been pushed back, because it clears me of any wrongdoing. And that does not sit well with certain people in the DA.”
She said Premier Helen Zille warned those in the party to follow due processes. “Helen is one individual that I have always enjoyed working with because she follows due process. Helen told them to follow due processes and warned that if they don’t, the courts will hit them. And that is exactly what had happened.”
But deputy chairperson of the DA’s federal council Natasha Mazzone said De Lille was doing everything possible to confuse and mislead the public.
“She is certainly no friend of the truth and is now throwing mud at an unprecedented rate. She has repeatedly vilified the DA for doing what is expected from us as an organisation that demands the highest level of accountability, transparency and good governance,” Mazzone said.
De Lille faced several investigations within the DA and the parties were caught in a public spat that played itself out in court. It all ended when De Lille agreed to resign on Wednesday on condition the DA clear her of charges.