29th of May 2018 DESPERATE DA ATTEMPTS TO REDUCE EAGLE DE LILLE TO A ‘LAME DUCK’, BY REDUCING EXECUTIVE POWERS. Dear supporters of this petition Thank you for your continued support. Our petition now stands at 1,837 supporters and growing each day. Aunty Pat’s brilliant exit strategy as the Mayor of Cape Town is giving the DA CoCT Caucus sleepless nights. Their dilemma is: ‘How do we clip the wings of an eagle to prevent the eagle from flying?’ What they are planning to do is to substantially reduce the executive power of Executive mayor De Lille and to limit her to ‘drink tea in her office’ – surely, an impossible plan. Donwald Pressly wrote the following in The Messenger on 14 May, 2018: “Acting Cape Town Mayor Ian Neilson is expected to announce the interim mayoral committee this week. The focus will be on whether Neilson will re-appoint known allies of axed Mayor Patricia de Lille. The interim mayoral committee is expected to be announced on Tuesday. The acting Mayor was mum on Monday about whether there would be changes to the existing mayoral committee, but it is expected that allies of the cause to oust De Lille will need to be brought into the interim mayoral committee. This means that allies of De Lille could be in the firing line. They are Suzette Little, the area-based oversight mini-mayor for area north; Eddie Andrews, the area-based oversight mini-mayor for the area south; Siyabulela Mamkeli, the area-based mini-mayor for area central; and Anda Ntsodo, the area-based oversight mini-mayor for area east. Corporate services mayoral committee member Raelene Arendse could also get the chop. Although the mayoral committee member for finance, Johannes van der Merwe – who succeeded Neilson into this post – has been an ally of the Neilson team, word from the City has it that he may not retain his post. Allies of the Neilson faction include Stuart Diamond, mayoral committee member for assets and facilities management; JP Smith of safety and security and social services and Xanthea Limberg of informal settlements, water, and waste. Although Brett Herron has been an outspoken ally of De Lille, his grasp of the transport and urban development portfolio may mean he will keep his post. Neilson may choose not to upset the apple cart and retain the services of all the mayoral committee members – but he is not telling. On Friday, De Lille won a stay of execution in the Western Cape High Court, effectively delaying her removal as mayor at least until 25 May, when a review hearing will be held. If Neilson chooses to reshuffle his mayoral committee and bring in new members, among those who need to be rewarded are Angus McKenzie, a Bonteheuwel councillor and outspoken critic of De Lille and the DA metro committee leader Grant Twigg who has also been strident in his opposition to De Lille.” Read the full article below. The attempt to reduce the executive powers of the Mayor is in direct conflict with the recent High Court ruling in Cape Town by Judge J Gamble on the 15th of May 2018, when he stated in his ruling: “ As undesirable as it may be in light of the bruising allegations and counter allegations which have been made in these proceedings, preservation of the status quo as it existed immediately before Ms. de Lille was informed of the decision of FedEx last Tuesday morning is in our view the only reasonable alternative in the prevailing circumstances. The DA will know this only too well after its protracted litigation with the former Chief Operating Officer of the national broadcaster in which it sought to preserve the status quo. See Democratic Alliance v South African Broadcasting Corporation and others 2015 (1) SA 551 (C). There is, in our view, no practical way to achieve this outcome other than to grant the relief sought by Ms. de Lille in para 1.1 of the draft order handed up by Mr. Mpofu.” “Preservation of the status quo” means that Mayor De Lille retains all her executive powers as determined by national legislation. The DA CoCT caucus cannot water down these powers, as much as they may try. Sources: https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/western-cape/da-caucus-in-bid-to-remove-de-lilles-executive-powers-15208907 Be Blessed Kind Regards Pastor Louis Michael Green Petition Initiator of the “STOP THE DA FROM OUSTING PATRICIA DE LILLE AS MAYOR OF CAPE TOWN” Petition Kraaifontein The Western Cape Province South Africa Email: louisgreen69@gmail.com