Embattled City of Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille may have twisted the DA’s arm for a fair disciplinary hearing, but insiders say the agreement between her and the party has special conditions.
On Thursday, in a dramatic about-turn, DA councillor Marian Nieuwoudt announced the withdrawal of a motion of no confidence she had tabled against De Lille.
The party released a statement a few minutes afterwards, announcing its agreement with De Lille on a disciplinary process.
However, DA insiders told Independent Media the agreement did not shield De Lille from further motions of no confidence, and that she could be removed by late August.
A DA leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “We were confident in our motion that it would remove her from her seat. She, however, agreed to sign the agreement and will comply with the disciplinary hearing. If she does not, we will call a special council meeting and we will remove her at the end of August."
The DA said it would appoint a federal legal commission panel and the prosecution would be led by an independent senior prosecutor and be open to the media.
An initial disciplinary process against De Lille was brought to a standstill when one of the panellists was asked to recuse himself.
The DA leader said the process would allow De Lille to face the allegations, and be removed with allegations tested at a fair disciplinary hearing.
“The party disciplinary process will deal with charges including the influence on the appointment of the City manager, the municipal stadium and entities. This process she has delayed and frustrated for 10 months,” he said.
Though the party said it chose the route to settle the matter in a peaceful manner, and afford De Lille a fair process, some within the party said the DA took the decision out of pressure from its funders.
An insider told Independent Media that at the time when De Lille won her case against the DA in May, DA leader Mmusi Maimane was in London raising funds for the party’s election campaign.
It is alleged that Maimane was turned down by funders who were not happy with the manner in which the party was handling the De Lille matter.
“The DA needs R600million for the election campaign They do have some money but not their target market. That is why they want to resolve this matter so that they can focus on the campaign.
“The DA was also not planning to intervene until they saw that they did not have numbers. Patricia had more numbers; they knew they were going to lose,” he said.
DA spokesperson Solly Malatsi, however, has refuted the allegations as “rubbish”.
Despite the DA in the Western Cape saying that the matter had no impact on its election campaign, the ANC emphasised that it would take any opportunity to capitalise on the DA infighting.
The City of Cape Town's ANC leader in the council, Xolani Sotashe, said his party knew that the way in which the DA had handled the De Lille matter would work in their favour.
“There is no doubt that the De Lille matter has a negative impact in terms of the DA’s constituency. The DA is struggling to explain to its own constituencies what De Lille has actually done. She has been challenging them on this matter.
“We are in a political game here. We will capitalise and use everything,” said Sotashe.
Political analyst Mpumelelo Mkhabela said the DA could restore the confidence of its voters if it handled the matter in a consistent, fair manner.
“It all depends on how the party resolves the matter. If it is resolved in a way that the DA is able to show that, first of all, it is following due process in terms of its constitution and its processes are transparent, and able to prove the allegations, it may end up coming out of this with a better reputation,” said Mkhabela.