Embattled Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille on Tuesday told journalists outside parliament she was sticking to her guns to have her disciplinary hearing by her political party the Democratic Alliance (DA) open to the public.

“I can confirm that the hearing has started but the lawyers are just debating some technical queries that they have, and after they have all agreed how to resolve those technical queries, we can then officially constitute the hearing and that is when we will put forward our request to open the hearing.”

She added that technical issues involved, amongst others, the appointment of the panel members to the hearing and the constitutional requirements related to the DA's constitution.

The mayor further added that if the request to have an open hearing was unsuccessful, she will request the panel to postpone the hearing so that she can proceed to court to put forward her request for an open hearing.

De Lille said she had requested the hearing to be open so that members of public can make up their own minds about whether the process is fair, as she claims the charges against her are of a technical nature, adding that she has not been charged with corruption, but accused by the DA’s federal executive of interfering in staff selection processes, and condoning and covering up maladministration.

De Lille has been charged with misconduct, bribery and corruption charges by her party.