CAPE TOWN
Fighting fractures DA-led Cape Town council
Central to the feud between Patricia De Lille and JP Smith is the mayor’s decision to clip the wings of Cape Town’s special investigative unit
Factionalism threatens to rip apart the DA in Cape Town following the latest public row between mayor Patricia de Lille and councillor JP Smith. There is mounting unhappiness in the Cape Town caucus with De Lille’s leadership style and some members are lobbying for her removal. The DA’s national leadership was in damage-control mode on Monday, moving quickly to place De Lille and Smith on special leave pending an internal investigation into the infighting and allegations levelled against the mayor. The decision to place De Lille and Smith on leave affected only work for the party and not for the government or the council, said DA national spokeswoman Phumzile van Damme. At the heart of the feud between De Lille and Smith is the mayor’s decision last week to clip the wings of Cape Town’s special investigative unit. It now operates as the internal investigations unit and may probe only corruption allegations against staff in the city’s safety and security directorate, which includes t...
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