On Thursday, 15 February, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Mmusi Maimaine said, “Patricia de Lille is governing on an ANC mandate, and it is a genuine concern for us [the DA] as a party, it must be investigated and accountability must be effected.”
Maimane was responding to questions by journalists in Cape Town following a failed motion of no confidence on 15 February against City of Cape Town Mayor, Patricia de Lille. De Lille managed to secure 110 votes against the motion, a further 109 voted for it, and three councillors abstained – which meant that the motion for her removal failed, despite the DA having 154 seats out of the 231 member City of Cape Town council.
Asked about whether a strong rebuke of De Lille was a rejection of the results, Maimane responded saying, “I accept them [the results], but what I am saying is 110 members of her caucus voted her out, so we must recognise that in a caucus of 150 (sic) councillors, that mandate does not come from them. So this matter must be investigated.”
Maimaine also says charges filed within the party’s structures against De Lille will still continue.
The DA is locked in a three-way power struggle between the party’s national Federal Executive, the DA Caucus in the City of Cape Town, and the City’s Mayor, Patricia de Lille. Her party caucus alleges that she is corrupt and they have therefore lost confidence in her leadership. The DA Federal Executive has expressed similar sentiments, and also wants to see her exit.
De Lille for her part, argues the campaign against her is a witch-hunt, saying on Thursday via social media, that “All of these untested allegations were used to smear my name for the past six months. Despite relentless efforts to get rid of me, the vote today shows that the truth will always survive.”