DA decides to appeal De Lille court decision – report

The Democratic Alliance’s (DA) federal executive has taken the decision to formally appeal the Western Cape High Court’s decision that handed Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille victory against the party, News24 reports.

Last month, the court handed down judgment in the matter, finding that the DA had not complied with its own constitution when handling the disciplinary process that culminated in the removal of De Lille as a member of the party.

The party’s removal of De Lille was declared unlawful, and was set aside with costs.

According to the report, the decision to appeal the ruling was confirmed by the party’s deputy federal council chairperson Natasha Mazzone, saying the DA’s legal team was in the process of finalising documents.

It was reported that following the court’s judgment last month, the DA had made known its intention to file another motion of no confidence in De Lille.

The court had ruled last month that the DA’s refusal to give De Lille the opportunity to give evidence in mitigation was an example of noncompliance in the matter.

The party was meant to give De Lille a chance to make representations, “which in our view, it did not do”.

The judge said the process taken by the DA’s federal legal council (FLC), which handles internal matters, was legally incorrect.

“Not only was the initial FLC selection panel improperly constituted, the FLC was in itself improperly constituted.”

De Lille successfully won an interim interdict to hold on to her job mid-May after she was stripped of her membership in the DA.

She then applied to the court to have sections of the DA constitution used to expel her from the party declared unlawful.

While legal representatives for the DA argued that De Lille’s stating her intention to leave the party during a radio interview in April was enough to cause the immediate cessation of her party membership, De Lille’s legal team contested this.

Her lawyers argued that she, in fact, stated her intention to leave as mayor and not as a DA member, and that this was conditional. She told talk show host Eusebius McKaizer she would resign only once her name was cleared.

De Lille insisted she wanted to clear her name in a disciplinary inquiry after she was accused of misconduct by the party. A disciplinary hearing fell away when the DA invoked the cessation clause to remove her as a party member, effectively also stripping her of the mayorship.

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