Patricia de Lille on Mmusi Maimane's political woes: 'What goes around, comes around'

“What goes around, comes around.” This is what minister of public works and former DA member Patricia de Lille said about the political woes facing DA leader Mmusi Maimane.

In an interview with eNCA on Thursday, De Lille said she warned Maimane not to collude with people who would some day want him out of the party.

“You are working with them to get me out, you are the spokesperson of this cabal. One day the cabal will turn on you and it's exactly what has happened.” De Lille made it clear that she had no advice to offer Maimane, saying “he must fight his own battles”.

Maimane is under growing pressure after Rapport claimed he drove a car sponsored by former Steinhoff boss Markus Jooste. The report said he refused to return the car after the Steinhoff scandal erupted, despite being advised to do so. Maimane has called the claims a smear campaign.

In a report by City Press three weeks ago, Maimane was found to have declared in the parliamentary register that the nearly R4m Cape Town house in which he lives was his own. In fact, the property is registered in the name of Durban businessman Wessel Jacobs. 

In January, De Lille told SowetanLIVE that, unlike Maimane, President Cyril Ramaphosa was a leader with solutions. De Lille said Maimane was too focused on removing former president Jacob Zuma from his position, adding that the DA was failing to do the same to Ramaphosa.