De Lille says her expulsion from the DA will end up in court

Patricia de Lille, whose membership was terminated by the DA, said she would head to court on Friday to challenge the decision.

She said she would be legally challenging the termination of her membership because the cessation clause used to oust her was unconstitutionally and unfairly applied to her.

During a press briefing announcing De Lille’s axing, DA leaders said the party’s constitution stated in section 3.5.1.2 that: “A member ceases to be a member when he or she 3.5.1.2 publicly declares his or her intention to resign and/or publicly declares his or her resignation from the Party.”

The party said this section was applied to terminate De Lille’s membership after she appeared on Radio 702, where she indicated she would resign from the DA once she had cleared her name.

The Cape Town mayor said in her court papers she would be interdicting the city manager from declaring a vacancy of the mayoral position because her removal from the DA would mean the deputy mayor would be acting mayor.

De Lille said the DA was taking a shortcut with resolving matters surrounding her, questioning why the party did not want to carry out its disciplinary processes.

She said allegations levelled against her by the DA were untested, as the party had failed to provide the evidence she had requested.

“They have tried to break me so many times, but I will not succumb to their bullying,” De Lille said.

She said she would map out her political future once her name had been cleared, and she had resolved the matters with the DA, adding that speculation had been rife about this, with different parties such as the EFF and ANC being punted as her next political home.