De Lille thrown into the council deep end, powers stripped

[Daily Maverick] AFTERNOON THING with JOHN STUPART TGIF, 19 January 2018 WHILE YOU WERE WORKING [De Lille stripped of water powers, Whitehead out]( Cape Town Mayor Patricia De Lille has been stripped of her powers of Cape Town's water affairs. In addition, Melissa Whitehead, the City of Cape Town's transport head, has been suspended. Whitehead was implicated in a cover-up of tender irregularities. Whitehead's suspension by the city's council is just another sad chapter in what appears to be the gradual dissolution of Cape Town's leadership. For De Lille, the knuckle-rapping could well be the beginning of the end. [Drought levy out, focus on De Lille's position]( A Cape Town City Council meeting also had matters to discuss beyond irregularities with Whitehead. Friday's special meeting saw the council scrap the proposed drought levy and emphasise the shroud of scandal now plaguing mayor Patricia De Lille. A walk-out by the ANC members, combined with ongoing confusion over by who and how the water crisis should be managed all contributed to a rather tense meeting start. As of writing the meeting was ongoing. [New Zealand Prime Minister expecting]( Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand's PM, has announced today that she is expecting her first baby. Ardern will be just the second world leader to give birth in office. The PM stated that she will be giving birth in June and would take a six-week break thereafter. Her husband will be the "first man of fishing and a stay-at-home dad". [Millions worth of damage and eight killed by German storm]( A massive gale that tore through Germany has caused an estimated $614-million in damage and killed at least eight people. Rail closures and large-scale property damage appeared to be the order of the day as the storm sped through Germany, hitting North Rhine-Westphalia particularly hard. FEATURED ARTICLES [Newsflash: Council passes motion to strip Patricia De Lille of her powers over water crisis]( [Newsflash: Council passes motion to strip Patricia De Lille of her powers over water crisis]( BY Marelise van der Merwe [amaBhungane and Scorpio #GuptaLeaks: Meet the money launderers]( [amaBhungane and Scorpio #GuptaLeaks: Meet the money launderers]( BY amaBhungane & Scorpio [amaBhungane: Security firms under scrutiny over plague of violence and death at Glebelands hostel]( [amaBhungane: Security firms under scrutiny over plague of violence and death at Glebelands hostel]( BY AMABHUNGANE OPINIONISTAS [By paying for interview, Bathabile Dlamini has destroyed SABC’s journalistic credibility]( [By paying for interview, Bathabile Dlamini has destroyed SABC’s journalistic credibility]( A column by Anton Harber [The Other News Round-Up: I Think, Therefore I Scam]( [The Other News Round-Up: I Think, Therefore I Scam]( A column by Marelise van der Merwe [FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO A FRIEND]( Copyright © 2017 Daily Maverick, All rights reserved. You are receiving this mail because you are awesome and on the Daily Maverick First Thing subscriber list. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](