/ 9 May 2018

‘Cape Town loses unifier De Lille’ — Tutu

The Maths Centre's aim is to inculcate a love of maths and science and to make learning fun.
The Maths Centre's aim is to inculcate a love of maths and science and to make learning fun.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah Tutu have expressed their sadness that Patricia de Lille’s services will be lost to the City of Cape Town.

On Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance announced that it had rescinded De Lille’s membership after she had “publicly declared” her intention to leave the party during an interview with radio 702 host Eusebius McKaiser. During the show, she said that she would “walk away” once she had cleared her name.

De Lille’s termination means she can longer serve as the mayor of Cape Town. Deputy mayor Ian Neilson has been appointed acting mayor, in accordance with the Municipal Structures Act.

As per the Act, De Lille’s entire office has also been dissolved, so the DA will have to establish a new mayoral committee to govern the City of Cape Town.

“Although she represented a particular political party, she played an important role as a unifier in a society still bearing the scars of its divided past,” said Tutu.

The former mayor has said that she will challenge the constitutionality of DA’s decision to remove her from the party by filing court papers on Friday.

She also plans to ask the court to grant an interdict to prevent the City of Cape Town manager and the Independent Electoral Commission from declaring a vacancy in her post.