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De Lille governing without a party mandate – DA provincial leader

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De Lille governing without a party mandate – DA provincial leader

Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille
Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille

16th February 2018

By: News24Wire

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Democratic Alliance (DA) Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela said three quarters of the party's caucus voted in favour of a motion of no confidence in Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille, but that she survived largely as a result of the support of the African National Congress and the other smaller opposition parties.

"This means she, in effect, is governing without a party mandate. This is a serious undermining of the DA and the values and the electoral mandate which we were given by the people of Cape Town," he said on Thursday.

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"This then brings into serious question whether it can be said that the mayor has the mandate of the electorate which voted for the DA."

Madikizela said the party had lodged the motion after its City caucus expressed that they had lost confidence in De Lille, which could not be ignored.

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"This decision by the caucus followed a number of damning allegations against De Lille, pertaining to maladministration and governance failures, not least by an independent council investigation and the Auditor-General."

DA leader Mmusi Maimane said the fact that De Lille survived the motion "does not mean that ultimately she holds the confidence of her own caucus".

"This is but a step in a long journey and what we've got to ensure we do, is continue to effect accountability," he said.

'Effective opposition'

"The Federal Legal Commission's charges against her still remain and will proceed on that basis because we believe ultimately that the case that is before her still has to continue, and that we must ultimately get to the accountability of the matter."

De Lille survived the motion on Wednesday after 110 councillors voted "no", 109 voted "yes", and three chose to abstain.

There are 231 members of council - 154 of them belong to the DA and 77 belong to the opposition.

The DA's Shaun August, chief whip in the City, confirmed that 44 DA councillors voted against the motion. ANC chief whip in the City, Noluthando Makasi said the party had hoped for this outcome.

"In essence, we wanted to make it clear that we want Patricia De Lille to stay on and answer and own the allegations against her. We are not protecting her, but we want her to stay on because the DA, as a party, was trying to get rid of her," she said.

"They used her during elections to obtain the 66% which she usually brags to us about. But today was not about protecting her, it's about the ANC being an effective opposition in council. We want her to stay on until we take a decision that it's time for her to go."

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