A caucus divided

Patricia De Lille is not the first person the DA asks to take off the Mayoral Chain. Once upon a time Peter Marais was axed as UniCity Mayor. This move was defended in the papers with a half-page advertisement and the case went to court. Minutes before a council meeting the court ruled the DA broke the law in axing Marais and saw the Mayor sliding into the council chamber.

Back then the DA said it wanted Cape Town to be a shining example to the rest of South Africa, but that under Marais’ leadership it had been dogged by crisis, controversy and scandal.

Fast-forward to the present and we are watching the sequel, this time Patricia de Lille is the Mayor. For some reason this make me think about Ghostbusters with Dan and Billy, and the sequel with Melissa.

One of the differences between the two though is that whether Patricia takes off the mayoral chain or not, the DA has a divided City of Cape Town caucus.

Although caucus meetings are closed, council meetings are open to the public and from the gallery you can clearly see the cracks in the caucus.

At the time of writing this the DA requested an Special City Council meeting for a Motion of No Confidence in the Mayor and the party laid criminal charges against Patricia de Lille. The criminal charges come after a businessman handed an affidavit to the party, making allegations of corruption and bribery against De Lille. This relates to allege attempts by De Lille to solicit a R5 million bribe.

The MONC, to be debated on 15 February, will be the second. A previous motion by the ANC was withdrawn at the eleventh hour. That happened as the DA caucus got the green light from their federal leadership to support it.

The decision by the Fedex comes after a caucus meeting with a majority vote recommended to the party higher structure that the caucus support a motion in the mayor.

This after councillor Mercia Kleinsmith requested an urgent caucus meeting to discuss a motion of no confidence in the Mayor.

The motion was motivated “all indications are that the party and its structures, the public and this caucus has lost confidence in the mayor to lead this city”.

The meeting with 152 members of caucus present concluded with 8 abstaining, 1 spoilt ballot and 59 votes against and 84 votes in support of a motion.

Taking another step back, days before Christmas the DA announced a subcommittee “found sufficient management and governance-related challenges in the DA’s City of Cape Town caucus”. As 2018 started DA leader Mmusi Maimane announced the party is formally charging Patricia de Lille, with the party’s Federal Legal Commission. This comes despite the party selling its good story the past decade. She is also accused of alleged misconduct for

1. Acting in a way that impacts negatively on the image or performance of the party
2. Failed to carry out duties and responsibilities set out by the standards required by the statutory rules required by the public office.
3. Bringing the name of the party in disrepute
4. Acted in an unreasonable and detrimental manner
5. Unreasonably failed to comply with or rejected decisions of the official formations of the party.

Prior to all this De Lille resigned as DA Western Cape Leader in January 2017. At the time she said it is to focus on only being mayor. Back then I wrote in politics it is anything goes. I also mentioned as Mayor of the Mother City she might lead the biggest DA caucus, but she’s not the first to be a government and party leader.

The resignation came days have she announced a newly revamped Executive Mayoral Committee, with four mini-mayors and a deputy now without a portfolio.

Whether Patricia de Lille is acquitted on the charges or not, both internally and the criminal charges, service delivery in the Mother City is in the hands of a divided governing party. From the 152-member caucus 84 councillors will be happy not to see the first citizen return, or disgruntled that she is returning.

While the party is not addressing the division, one need to ask if the Mayor takes off the chain will there be a push to remove the 59 who supported her. The same question can also be asked if she gets to keep the mayoral chain, if there would be a push to demote or remove the 84 councillors.

We should also not forget the 9 councillors who did not vote and 2 who were absent (on leave). Will they make their alliance known or continue to play neutral?

What if from the 84 or 59 councillors had a change of mind?

The DA’s Federal Congress is taking place later this year, in little over a year we will have a general election and campaigning will kick-start in a few weeks. The DA is determined to win enough votes to be the national government. Before all this the party would want to consider working on unity to say #BetterTogether.

Considering political parties are dependent on votes, it does not take a lot to know the Patricia-saga will cost the DA votes. Insiders say the party’s own polls even suggest this.

Let’s also not forget there is the possibility of a court challenge by DA MPL Lennit Max, after losing the provincial leadership and now citing vote rigging. The courts could order a re-run of the provincial congress.

The party leader took political control over the biggest crisis a DA government has faced. Someone should perhaps advise Mmusi Maimane to allow the experts to ensure we have water. He should perhaps, before all the votes dry up, want to focus on the tension and division within not only the City of Cape Town, but caucuses where the party governs.

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