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Former Cape Town mayor and DA member Patricia de Lille says she is ready to serve her country under a new political movement.
"I really have got enough energy left. It is time for a new political order in South Africa," she said at a briefing in Cape Town on Sunday.
De Lille has announced that she is launching a new political party that will contest the 2019 elections in all the provinces.
The former Cape Town mayor announced her resignation from the DA on November 1.
Her announcement on Sunday comes after the Western Cape High set aside the findings of a damning internal report. In the same week mayoral committee member Xanthea Limberg laid a charge against De Lille.
Court order
On Tuesday, the court granted an order, by agreement between the two parties, in which the DA abandoned all of the findings against De Lille in the so-called Steenhuisen report.
One of the allegations in the Steenhuisen report is that De Lille sent a "highly unethical" SMS to Limberg.
De Lille allegedly sent Limberg a text message on September 28, 2016, saying: "I want to keep Achmat so score him highest. Thanks," in an alleged attempt to unduly influence the appointment process of Achmat Ebrahim as Cape Town city manager.
De Lille has on several occasions refused to confirm or deny that she sent the SMS.
On Friday, Limberg laid criminal charges against De Lille in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act at the Cape Town Central police station.
The now abandoned report, which was the result of an investigation led by DA chief whip John Steenhuisen, included findings about various allegations and culminated in a decision by the party's federal executive council in January this year to charge De Lille with misconduct in contravention of the party's constitution.
She would be investigated by the DA's federal legal commission.
End of dirty tricks
In August, the DA announced it would not pursue further disciplinary steps against De Lille, and she announced that she would resign as mayor, effective November 1.
De Lille said in a statement on Thursday that the abandonment of the Steenhuisen report had brought to an end "another chapter in a year of DA dirty-tricks against me".
The Bowmans report on alleged fraud and corruption resulted in criminal charges being laid against De Lille after it was adopted by the Cape Town city council last month.
De Lille has since lodged a court application to have the report reviewed.
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