Cape Town - Yet another legal battle between outgoing mayor Patricia de Lille and the DA is brewing, putting even more strain on the party, and threatening to cause yet more rifts.
Soon after De Lille announced she would be leaving at the end of the month, open disagreement with her stopped, but it appears her fightback to clear her name is far from over.
She wrote a letter to DA members Henk Hugo, Shehana Kajee, Mike Waters and Bronwynn Engelbrecht.
She gave them until yesterday to apologise for allegedly posting a fake Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu report that portrayed her in a negative light.
In May Makwetu said not only was his signature forged, but he had no knowledge of the origins of the document.
De Lille argues that by “reposting or otherwise distributing the document, you published defamatory material regarding me, which is aggravated by the fact that this was done as part of a concerted effort to discredit me for political reasons”. By yesterday De Lille had no apology.
“I was told the DA would defend them.
“I have not heard anything from them, but I am in talks with my lawyers for further action against them.
“I want to clear my name and those who have implicated me, or smeared my name will have to set the record straight. I am just defending my name. That is all I am doing,” she said.
Messages sent to Hugo were not answered.
Kajee refused to answer questions when the Cape Argus contacted her.
“I know what this is all about and I am not going to comment on any of it.
“The DA is handling the matter and they will be responding to whatever needs a response,” she said.
Messages sent to Waters were not answered.