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The Democratic Alliance has put an end to the “confusion” surrounding the future of Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille by rescinding her membership of the party.
This effectively brought her tenure as mayor to an abrupt end and left her deputy Ian Neilson as acting mayor with immediate effect.
Natasha Mazzone, the party’s deputy federal chairperson, explained that De Lille’s membership had ceased because of the controversy surrounding her comments in an interview on Radio 702/567 with Eusebius McKaiser last month.
“In the course of this interview, Ms De Lille on two occasions indicated that she intended to resign from the DA as soon as she had cleared her name.
In much the same way as [former president] Jacob Zuma, she claimed that she wanted her day in court but has set up barriers to getting there, her actions have not been consistent with someone who desperately wanted to clear her name; she sought to delay the process at every possible step,” said Mazzone.
James Selfe, the party’s federal executive chairperson, explained that, according to the DA’s federal constitution, a member ceased to be a DA member when he/she publicly declared his/her intention of resigning from the party.
According to Selfe, De Lille was invited to explain why she had not, as a matter of fact, ceased to be a member by virtue of this section when she admitted that she intended to resign.
“She attempted to argue that this referred to resigning as mayor. The federal legal commission found that the context showed very clearly that she intended to resign from the DA and not as mayor,” said Selfe.
Mazzone explained: “Accordingly, the federal executive resolved last night to endorse the finding of the legal commission that her membership had ceased as of April 26, the date of the 702 interview. We have informed Ms de Lille and city manager of this fact.”
The spat between the DA and De Lille took a turn for the worse on the weekend when the party informed her that her membership had allegedly “ceased”.
READ: DA tells de Lille her membership has ended
Following the rescinding of De Lille’s membership, the mayoral committee dissolved, leaving deputy mayor Ian Neilson as the only executive official in the city and thus the acting mayor until a new mayor was appointed.
Mazzone indicated that the party was deeply concerned about the effect this would have on the residents of Cape Town and the general public.
“It is no secret that the DA has suffered immeasurable damage because of this issue due to the lack of information,” said Mazzone.
Selfe wished De Lille well, and thanked her for the service she had given the party.
“This has been a confusing time for citizens of Cape Town, for which the DA sincerely apologises,” he said.
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