Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille will be spending her last months in office trying to sort out housing problems and land invasions which have rocked the city.
In a shock announcement on Sunday, De Lille quit her job as mayor, while the Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said the party has withdrawn all charges against her.
MANDATE SET: Outgoing Cape Town Mayor Patricia de Lille. Photo: PHANDO JIKELO/ANA
“This matter has already gone on for too long and has sapped the energies and attentions of both parties from our core work, for which we apologise,” said Maimane.
“We were both desirous of finding a mutually agreeable resolution and we have now done so. I am confident that this outcome is in the best interests of the people of Cape Town.”
After almost a year of public mudslinging, he said De Lille had agreed to resign the office of mayor effective 31 October.
The process to elect a new mayor would begin immediately, with more details avai-
lable in due course, Maimane added.
However, while the DA had taken a decision to withdraw all internal disciplinary charges against De Lille, any other investigations by the City were not covered by the agreement.
The City is investigating alleged mismanagement against De Lille.
During her stint as mayor since 2011, De Lille has achieved four clean audits which earned Cape Town the status of leading metro in South Africa.
De Lille said she was pleased to have reached an agreement with the DA.
“I have always maintained that I am innocent and the allegations against me have never been proven. This is why I insisted on opening up the disciplinary hearing to the media,” she said.
“Now that the DA has withdrawn the charges against me and I have cleared my name I have decided to step aside.”
The mayor said she will be tackling land invasions and apartheid spatial planning in the next few weeks.
“I’ll be spending these months trying to find resolutions to the land invasions we have been experiencing. I want to make sure that I engage with the 20 hot spots across the city, and that our pro-poor budget is communicated and implemented.”
She would remain a member of the DA, but could not say what she would be doing come 1 November.
Meanwhile, the ANC Cape Town caucus said the “illicit arrangement” between De Lille and the DA that “opens a backdoor for a different mayor other than the one the people of Cape Town voted for”.
“We still want to see that allegations of corruption on various issues against De Lille are probed and tested in an open and credible process,” ANC caucus leader Xolani Sotashe said.