Read De Lille’s response to DA sacking

"Despite this mockery of fairness and justice

This morning at 07h52, I was informed that the DA’s Fedex has ruled that I lost membership of the Party, and accordingly the position of mayor because I said that I intended to resign after clearing my name to a talk show host I did on April 26 this year.

This was used as a hook to invoke section 3.5.1.2 of the DA’s constitution which provides that DA’s members automatically cease to be members when publicly declaring their intention to resign from the Party.

Once again, the DA’s desperation has led them to take another short cut to get rid of me before following their own due processes and sticking to their principles of fairness to allow me to stand before an impartial tribunal and respond to the untested allegations against me in public.

I have always maintained that I am fighting for my right to natural justice and to clear my name. For months various DA members have repeated untested allegations against me to taint my name and my reputation as a corruption fighter including the latest where two MPs shared a fraudulent letter about me purporting to be from the Auditor General.

For months I have been subjected to slander and attacks by DA members before being found guilty of anything. They have tried to break me so many times but I was never going to succumb to the bullying.

Why was it so hard for them to run the disciplinary charges against me in an open process before a retired Judge or senior advocate? If this is done, the whole process can be concluded in a matter of weeks. Now the Party has forced me to return to the Courts, which I will do on Friday, 11 May 2018 at 10h00. As I speak, my lawyers are send the Court papers to the Party; the City Manager and the IEC. We will show on Friday that this so-called automatic cessation clause is not constitutional and it was unfairly applied to me.

I have always maintained that my only aim in this matter was to clear my name and that I was not married to any position. My integrity and my name are things I worked very hard for over more than 40 years and these are things I value more than anything else. These are values that cannot be bought.

Despite this mockery of fairness and justice, I must thank the thousands of supporters from all over the country who have sent so many messages of support over the eight months while I endured this relentless onslaught.