GARETH VAN ONSELEN: Did Patricia de Lille send the SMS? Yes or No?
De Lille’s response has typically been to evade answering the question, and this had primarily involved arguing that the DA has failed to send her the SMS in question
Part of the DA’s case against Patricia de Lille revolves around the allegation that she sent a deeply unethical SMS to water and sanitation mayoral committee member Xanthea Limberg, who sat on the City of Cape Town panel to select the city manager, in September 2016. The SMS from De Lille supposedly read: "I want to keep Achmat, so please score him highest." It refers to Achmat Ebrahim, the last candidate to be interviewed and, ultimately, the person who was selected as city manager. The following evidence for the allegation now exists in the public domain: a screenshot of the SMS in question; an on-the-record confirmation from Xanthea Limberg that she received it ("I received the SMS as I was sitting in the room with the rest of the panel members and the first applicant walked in the room and sat down for the interview"); the date of the SMS — September 28 2016; and the number to which it was sent — Xanthea Limberg’s cellphone. All of this is set out in a Mail & Guardian story, pub...
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