De Lille denies fresh nepotism claims over appointments

Embattled City of Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille has reportedly denied fresh allegations of nepotism levelled against her.

This after a damming arbitration judgment into the unfair appointment of the City of Cape Town’s area-based directors reportedly revealed how De Lille allegedly employed her close friends.

According to EWN, an applicant for one of four area-based director vacancies, laid a complaint with the South African Local Government Bargaining Council after he was sidelined in the appointment process.

De Lille said the outcome of the arbitration only found that the number of candidates shortlisted were inadequate compared to the total number of applicants.

“If you read the report, there’s also no finding by the commissioner that friendship or relationship played any part in the appointment process, so the allegation that the leadership of the city interfere[d] is therefore not true,” she said.

In August last year, the Cape Town council adopted the Organisational Development and Transformation Plan to enhance service delivery in the metro.

This subsequently saw the city adopting an area-based service delivery strategy that includes four geographical locations declared areas North, East, South and Central that required four directors.

De Lille last month survived a motion of no confidence against her tabled by her own party, the Democratic Alliance. She is being investigated by the DA federal legal commission for several allegations of corruption and maladministration, which she has repeatedly denied.

She said she would release further details regarding her pending DA disciplinary hearing on Sunday.

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