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The lawyer of ousted Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille, Advocate Dali Mpofu, says that the hastiness of De Lille’s removal in one day is questionable and “unconstitutional”.
De Lille was at the Western Cape High Court on Friday attempting to interdict the Democratic Alliance from appointing a new mayor.
Prior to the court breaking for lunch, Mpofu alleged that the swift move was meant to ensure that the DA could beat the serving of court papers and say “oh the horses have bolted”.
“No court will be fooled by that,” Mpofu said.
De Lille’s lawyers were in court to argue that she should remain mayor until June, when her legal challenge to the validity of her removal from office will be heard.
Should the court find in her favour next month and rule that her removal, in terms of the party’s so-called cessation clause, had been illegal, it would have serious implications for both sides.
It would mean that any decision taken by the interim mayor would become invalid, with dire consequences for local government functions.
De Lille was stripped of her membership from the party on Tuesday.
The DA’s federal council chairperson James Selfe and his deputy Natasha Mazzone said at a briefing on Tuesday that De Lille’s expulsion was based on her interview with Radio 702 host Eusebius McKaiser on April 26 where she made a public declaration that goes against a clause in the party’s constitution.
The clause states that if a member publicly declares his or her intention to resign from the party, that person’s membership ceases immediately.
On Thursday, De Lille announced on her Twitter account that Mpofu would be joining her legal team.
Mpofu caused a stir in February when he represented De Lille in court to allow the DA’s motion of no confidence against her to take place by secret ballot.
DA Western Cape leader Bonginkosi Madikizela said that it was a pity that they had to be at court when there were other matters to attend to.
“It’s so unfortunate that we are even here [at court] because when you join a particular organisation you subject yourself to the rules and the constitution of that organisation.
“If you violate those rules, that organisation must take action against you and that is why we took the action that we took against her.
“We actually should be focusing on delivering services to the people of Cape Town because those are the people who matter,” Madikizela said outside the court.
Speaking to News24 on Thursday, De Lille said that her lawyers had received an offer which included that her position will not be “permanently” filled for the next three months and that an acting mayor, rather, will take over while the parties head to court.
Her lawyers rejected the offer and instead argued that the court should urgently suspend her ousting from the DA, and therefore the Cape Town council, and effectively return her to her position until June.
They also requested that the Cape Town City manager be interdicted from informing the Electoral Commission of South Africa of her membership termination, and that the IEC also be interdicted from filling the vacancy.
The DA, however, filed opposing papers on Wednesday in which they said it was too late for De Lille’s requests to be granted as she had already been removed from the party.
Meanwhile, pro-DA and pro-De Lille protesters held demonstrations outside the court during proceedings.
