Independent Democrats

Independent Democrats
Independent Democrats
President	Patricia de Lille
Secretary-General	Haniff Hoosen
Chairperson	Mervyn Cirota
Founder	Patricia de Lille
Founded	21 June 2003
Dissolved	2014
Merged into	Democratic Alliance
Headquarters	Cape Town,Western Cape
Youth wing	Young Independent Democrats
Ideology	Social liberalism; Populism
Political position	Centre
Colours	Orange
Slogan	Be a Part of the Solution
	Politics of South Africa; Political parties; Elections;

TheIndependent Democrats(ID) was a South African political party, formed by formerPan Africanist CongressmemberPatricia de Lillein 2003 viafloor crossing legislation.^[1]The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with a mixture of liberal principles and strategies for improving equity.^{[citation needed]}The party's strongholds were the Northern and Western Cape.

On 15 August 2010, the party announced plans to merge with the largerDemocratic Allianceas part of a plan to challenge the governingAfrican National Congress(ANC).^[2]The party disbanded as a separate political organization in 2014.

2009 election manifesto

Ahead of the nationalelectionsin2009,the ID launched a manifesto promising that, if elected to power, they would increase the staffing of theSouth African Police Serviceto 200,000, enlist 5,000 caseworkers to operate in crime-stricken communities, make South Africa a leader inrenewable energyand finance a minimum social grant by ta xingluxury goods,tobacco and alcohol. In addition they vowed that an "ID government would fire a minister whose department received a qualified audit two years in a row."^[3]

Merger with DA

In 2010, then-ID leader Patricia de Lille formalized an agreement to merge with the Democratic Alliance. The two parties merged by 2014. Due to this, the ID did not contest the 2011 local elections as a separate entity, instead fielding its candidates on the DA's ballots. In February 2012, the-then Leader of the Official Opposition,Lindiwe Mazibuko,reshuffled her shadow cabinet, which included appointing members of the ID to shadow portfolios for the first time.^[4]This was seen as a move towards strengthening the co-operation between the two parties heading towards the completion of the merger.

Election results

National elections

Election	Votes	%	Seats
2009	162,915	0.92	4
2004	269,765	1.70	7

Municipal elections

Election	Votes	%
2006	530,912	2.0%

References

^"Floor Crossing at a Glance (pdf)".Idasa. 21 June 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 28 February 2007.Retrieved12 December2006.
^[1],Andrew Harding, 15 August 2010, "South African opposition parties to merge"
^Quoted in Hartley 2009.
^"DA's Athol Trollip gets Mazibuko's old portfolio | City Press".City Press.South Africa. Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2012.Retrieved15 January2022.

General

Hartley, Aziz. "ID releases election manifesto."Cape Times,2 February2009 in literature:4.

External links

Independent Democrats(official site)

[idasa2004-1] "Floor Crossing at a Glance (pdf)".Idasa. 21 June 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 28 February 2007.Retrieved12 December2006.

[2] [1],Andrew Harding, 15 August 2010, "South African opposition parties to merge"

[3] Quoted in Hartley 2009.

[4] "DA's Athol Trollip gets Mazibuko's old portfolio | City Press".City Press.South Africa. Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2012.Retrieved15 January2022.

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