Cape Town - The ANC has come to the rescue of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille after it withdrew its planned motion of no confidence which would have seen her booted from office.
The DA’s federal executive okayed moves by some of the party’s disgruntled councillors to remove De Lille but the party’s councillors are divided on the issue and would have required to votes of the ANC to have her axed.
De Lille hit back at the DA and its Western Cape leader‚ Bonginkosi Madikizela and accused them of being in a "great haste" to remove her.
“The desperation to replace me reached new heights today, when the FedEx gave the DA Caucus permission to vote with the ANC in the Motion of No Confidence that they brought to Council, and subsequently withdrew. I consider this to be a serious mockery of the values that the DA purports to stand for, which are Fairness, Freedom and Opportunity,” said De Lille.
De Lille said allegations which informed the decision to remove her remain untested, and thus any attempt to remove her based on them is baseless, and against the party’s process.
“It seems that every other day, there is another maneuver to undermine these processes and get rid of me before testing the allegations against me and giving me a fair chance to respond to those allegations. It begs the question just how much confidence the DA has in their charges against me,” said De Lille.
“I cannot allow my name to be tarnished on a daily basis while being unfairly gagged when all other party members are able to freely speak on these matters while processes are underway,” she added.
Madikizela told Independent Media that the two investigations that are underway, the Bowman investigation and political investigation with the party’s federal executive, were a drop in the ocean for what triggered the motion of no confidence decision.
He said De Lille’s caucus took the decision as they’re angry with her for going against the decision collectively undertaken to oppose the drought levy.