Cape Town - Allowing vote of no confidence against Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille to proceed without the provision of a secret ballot would be akin to a DA disciplinary without the process.
This was the argument from De Lille’s legal counsel Advocate Dali Mpofu has he sought an order from the Western Cape High Court that Thursday’s vote is done by secret ballot, and DA councillors are not pressured to vote for the motion.
Last month the DA caucus in the City of Cape Town decided to table the motion against De Lille amidst the background of the party’s federal executive stating that it had lost confidence in her over allegations of tender corruption within the City and that she was trying to cover this up.
In front of the court, several of De Lille’s supporters have turned up, singing songs in support of her while clad in white t-shirts written “Keep Our Mayor De Lille” and at the back #ImWithDeLille.
In Court 17, Mpofu said 59 DA councillors who had earlier indicated that they were against the motion of no confidence in De Lille would be like “suicide bombers” if they were not protected by an order of the court.
But seemingly towards the end, the DA had agreed that it would not object to the vote being by secret ballot. City of Cape Town Speaker Dirk Smit, also a respondent in the case, had also indicated that he had no objection and would take his instructions from the ruling party.