DA halts De Lille discussions amid looming court battle
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says its Federal Executive (FedEx) is seeking legal advice after it was served with legal papers by Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille.
The decision was taken at a meeting on Saturday after De Lille advised them that she intends approaching the courts to stop the party from firing her.
The chairperson of the DA's Federal Council James Selfe says prior to receiving the legal papers the FedEx held discussions on the motion of no confidence passed in De Lille by its Cape Town caucus.
"During the course of these deliberations, we received legal papers from de Lille advising that she intends approaching the courts. As a result, we have suspended discussions pending legal advice. The Fedex will resume discussions early next week once the legal advice is at hand."
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Selfe says the caucus put forward various reasons for passing the motion in De Lille.
"These reasons included the fact that she had repeatedly breached the Code of Conduct for Councillors as well as the Constitution of the DA, had brought the DA into disrepute and breached the conditions of her suspension.
"In addition, Ms De Lille's conduct in the public domain has amounted to frequent criticisms of the DA and the DA's management of her case, to the extent that it appears she does not consider herself part of the DA any longer - or at least considers herself more important than it and above the rules of the party, Her recent comment that she is 'no longer cooperating with the DA' means she cannot effectively govern on a DA mandate," says Selfe.