Mayor Patricia de Lille says she looks forward to appearing before the disciplinary committee brought by the DA.
The hearing next month - set to take place over three days - was in line with an agreement reached at the 11th hour, as the party had prepared to remove her through a motion of no confidence yesterday.
The agreement saw the DA withdrawing the motion during a council meeting.
De Lille said she met with DA leader Mmusi Maimane on Wednesday night and they both concluded that it was the best way forward to proceed with the disciplinary hearing.
“We have agreed we will have a pre-trial before the hearing starts to ensure they produce all the evidence, so that my lawyer can prepare my defence properly. The charges obviously need to be served again, because this is a new hearing,” De Lille said.
“One of the charges that the party brought against me in the second disciplinary hearing alleged that I interfered with the advertisement to employ senior directors in the City. The City itself has concluded that investigation and found I did not interfere with the process.
“We have to start afresh. I will wait for the DA’s federal council to send me the charges,” De Lille added.
Mayor Patricia de Lille says she looks forward to appearing before the disciplinary committee brought by the DA. Video: Sandiso Phaliso
“I am very positive, because at last we are going to proceed with a disciplinary hearing. I owe it to the country to give my side of the story, and my ultimate aim is to clear my name,” De Lille pointed out.
“We need to speed up this process and get it done as soon as possible. If we had done this six months ago, we would not have been where we are today.”
DA national spokesperson Solly Malatsi said the agreement “makes space for the mayor to be held accountable in a fair and reasonable manner for the findings of independent counsel-led investigations, such as the upcoming Bowman’s report into her conduct”.
Malatsi said De Lille insisted that the party appoint a federal legal council panel, that the prosecution be led by an independent senior prosecutor and the hearing be open to the media, to which the party had agreed.
“This agreement states that we will all strive to conclude the matter as soon as possible,” said Malatsi.
“We are working to ensure that the DA caucus (in the City of Cape Town), the mayoral committee and functions of the City are focused on putting the people of Cape Town first,” he added.
Meanwhile, the motion of no confidence against speaker Dirk Smit failed yesterday. Of the 212 councillors present, 157 voted against the motion, while 55 voted in favour.
Tabling the motion, ANC councillor Charlotte Heynes said Smit’s conduct and decisions at council sittings were “not consistent with the rules of natural justice”.