NEWS ANALYSIS: Victory will be hollow for DA or De Lille in bitter high court battle
Case highlights the value of mediation in political-party disputes
The ugly court warfare between Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille and the DA has all the hallmarks of a particularly bitter divorce — complete with claims of lying and an "irreconcilable relationship breakdown". De Lille’s advocate, Dali Mpofu, says the public spectacle of this acrimonious standoff would not have been necessary at all had the DA agreed to "sit around a table" with De Lille and come to some kind of agreement with her about her exit. Even on the issue of a proposed "settlement deal", De Lille and the DA have two very different accounts of why they could not reach agreement. Not unlike two angry estranged spouses who insist the other is unreasonable, the legal representatives of the DA and De Lille both maintain that they wanted to settle the impasse, but were effectively rebuffed. DA federal chairman James Selfe says the party’s leadership initiated "many, many" attempts to negotiate with De Lille."We would appear to arrive at an agreement and then Ms De Lille would co...
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