Cape Town mayor, Patricia de Lille sacked by her own party

The mayor of Cape Town, South Africa’s second largest city, was sacked by her own party on Tuesday after her administration came under fire over mismanagement and alleged corruption.

“Patricia de Lille is no longer the mayor of Cape Town because she is no longer a member of the DA,” the deputy chairperson of the Democratic Alliance’s federal executive, Natasha Mazzone said.

Patricia de lille, sacked cape town mayor

“My integrity and my name are things that I’ve worked very hard for. For more than 40 years in politics and these are things I value more than anything else,” the sacked mayor said.

The embattled De Lille vowed to legally contest her sacking.

“Now once again the DA’s desperation has led to them taking another shortcut, to get rid of me before following due process,” the sacked mayor said

The DA defended her axing by invoking an “accountability clause.” It allows that an executive office-bearer who has lost the confidence of his or her peers may be removed from office.

“So we cannot just listen from the one side of the story and then, we need to know from Patricia’s point of view what is it that happened to her that made her to be fired.”

“Mmusi Maimane and the rest of the cabinet must take responsibility of the things they said she’s responsible about doing, I mean she can’t be making decisions on her own;” Khayalethu Antoni a Cape Town resident said.

Around 70 percent of the DA caucus voted against the mayor in a motion of no confidence in April.