De Lille vote: 'Expect a lot of surprises'

Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille faces a fresh motion of no-confidence on Thursday and some of her opponents believe this time she will be shown the door.

The ANC in the city council‚ however‚ is expected to throw not only its vote behind the mayor they once tried to oust themselves but has now also launched a motion of no-confidence to oust speaker Dirk Smit.

A senior member of the DA caucus in the city told Times Select that several councillors who supported De Lille in a motion of no-confidence against her in February‚ which she won by one vote‚ are primed to turn their vote against her.

“The action against the speaker is just a disruptive action because if they oust him we’ll just vote him back in‚” said the source.

But De Lille’s political rivals within the DA are worried that her supporters in the city council will collude with the ANC to get rid of the speaker.

DA insiders now say they suspect De Lille’s supporters may have cut a deal with the ANC‚ as they did earlier this year when rebel DA councillors voted with opposition parties to block a previous motion of no-confidence in the mayor.

De Lille denied knowledge of any deal with the ANC‚ while ANC leader Xolani Sotashe also denied that they had struck a deal with De Lille’s supporters.

For more on the story please visit Times Select.