LISTEN: Phumzile Van Damme explains De Lille and Smith special leave

4 October 2017 8:37 AM

According to DA's national spokesperson Phumzile Van Damme, DA leader Mmusi Maimane met with both Mayor of Cape Town Patricia de Lille and Mayco member JP Smith on Monday, before taking a decision to put them on special leave.

Following the outcome of the meeting, De Lille and Smith were put on special leave from DA's activities to allow investigations to take place without interference.

The investigation which will be chaired by John Steenhuisen will look at the political and governance issues at the City of Cape Town and table recommendations...
— Phumzile Van Damme, DA National Spokesperson

No charges have been laid so he will just look at those matters and give recommendations to the federal executives who will then decide on the way forward.
— Phumzile Van Damme, DA National Spokesperson

There's been some tensions between de Lille and Smith and the committee will be looking at what caused these tensions and what needs to be done to resolve the matter, says Van Damme.

She says that the special leave will not affect both de Lille and Smith's positions within the City of Cape Town but only political activities.

In the mean time the City of Cape Town is going to continue delivering services to the people and making sure that everything runs smoothly.
— Phumzile Van Damme, DA National Spokesperson

To hear the rest of the interview, listen below:

This article first appeared on CapeTalk : LISTEN: Phumzile Van Damme explains De Lille and Smith special leave

Written by: Lengwadishang Ramphele