Patricia de Lille, born on 17 February 1951, is the Mayor of Cape Town and leader of the Independent Democrats, a South African political party which she formed in 2003 when she broke away from the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

She worked as a laboratory technician in Cape Town and became involved in the South African Chemical Workers Union, being elected to National Executive Member in 1983. In 1988 she was elected as National Vice-President of The National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU), the highest position for a woman in the trade union movement at that time. In 1990 she was elected onto the National Executive of the PAC, and led its delegation in the constitutional negotiations that preceded South Africa's first democratic election in 1994.

In Parliament she was appointed Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Transport from 1994 - 1999, and was also made the Chief Whip of the PAC. She has used her parliamentary position to forcefully speak out against government corruption, particularly in the case of the controversial arms deal. De Lille is an outspoken activist on other sensitive issues, including HIV/AIDS, xenophobia, and the rights of children in prison.

In addition to her parliamentary activities, De Lille serves as a trustee for both the Nelson Mandela's Children Fund and the National Children`s Rights Committee and sits on the board of numerous civil society organisations. In April 2003, Patricia took the bold step of forming her own political party, the Independent Democrats, where she intended to build on her support as one of the ten most popular politicians in the country to form an opposition in South Africa that cuts across traditional race and class divides and speaks to the most important issues affecting South Africa's new democracy.

Following an accident that left her in a wheelchair for over 4 months, De Lille's work took on a new urgency: "I realised the world could go on without me. That really changed my life." she says "I've decided I'm going to focus on 3 issues. I'm going to focus on corruption, the AIDS issue and on poverty." - cited Wikipedia

De Lille has been given an HIV/Aids Activist award from a Canadian organisation and has sponsored an HIV-positive child, also named Patricia, for 13 years.  She has been named one of the Top Five Women in Government and Government Agencies and won the Rapport City Press Woman of the Year Award in 2006. She is a former Chancellor of the Durban Institute of Technology, an Honorary Colonel in the SANDF and currently serves on the boards of the African Monitor and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund. She recently retired from the board of the Helen Suzman Foundation.

Following a merger between the ID and DA, De Lille was the Western Cape Minister of Social Development before being placed as the Mayoral candidate for the City of Cape Town under the banner of the DA, where she won and is currently the Mayor.

De Lille is married with two children and enjoys playing golf, listening to music and spending time with her family.

Further Articles on Patricia De Lille

• Interlog
• Answers
• capetown/mayor/

Quote from Patricia De Lille
"When my opponents attack me, I don't go crying in a corner like a little sissy and say, 'Oh you know they've attacked me, I'm a woman.' I just wait for
the next opportunity and return the punch. That's how I behave in Parliament and obviously, not everybody likes it."

• SAfrica

Page Created: 13 September 2011