Independent Democrats

{{Infobox political party

|name = Independent Democrats

|native_name =

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|logo = Independent Democrats logo.svg

|logo_size = 150px

|colorcode = {{party color|Independent Democrats}}

|leader =

|chairperson =

|president = Patricia de Lille

|secretary_general = Haniff Hoosen

|spokesperson =

|founder = Patricia de Lille

|leader1_title = Chairperson

|leader1_name = Mervyn Cirota

|leader2_title =

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|slogan = Be a Part of the Solution

|founded = {{Start date|2003|06|21|df=y}}

|dissolved = 2014

|merger =

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|predecessor =

|merged = Democratic Alliance

|successor =

|headquarters = Cape Town, Western Cape

|newspaper =

|student_wing =

|youth_wing = Young Independent Democrats

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|ideology = Social liberalism
Populism

|position = Centre

|religion =

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|colours = Orange {{color box|#E47F20}}

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|country = South Africa

|footnotes =

}}

The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation.{{cite web

|url = http://www.idasa.org.za/gbOutputFiles.asp?WriteContent=Y&RID=480

|title = Floor Crossing at a Glance (pdf)

|publisher = Idasa

|date = 2004-06-21

|access-date = 2006-12-12

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070228020435/http://www.idasa.org.za/gbOutputFiles.asp?WriteContent=Y&RID=480

|archive-date = 28 February 2007

}} The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with a mixture of liberal principles and strategies for improving equity.{{Citation needed|date=October 2013}} The party's strongholds were the Northern and Western Cape.

On 15 August 2010, the party announced plans to merge with the larger Democratic Alliance as part of a plan to challenge the governing African National Congress (ANC).[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10981635], Andrew Harding, 15 August 2010, "South African opposition parties to merge" The party disbanded as a separate political organization in 2014.

2009 election manifesto

Ahead of the national elections in 2009, the ID launched a manifesto promising that, if elected to power, they would increase the staffing of the South African Police Service to 200,000, enlist 5,000 caseworkers to operate in crime-stricken communities, make South Africa a leader in renewable energy and finance a minimum social grant by taxing luxury 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."Quoted in Hartley 2009.

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/DAs-Athol-Trollip-gets-Mazibukos-old-portfolio-20120201#.TykgEYsptnc.twitter |title=DA's Athol Trollip gets Mazibuko's old portfolio | City Press |website=City Press|location=South Africa |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201121056/http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/DAs-Athol-Trollip-gets-Mazibukos-old-portfolio-20120201#.TykgEYsptnc.twitter |archive-date=1 February 2012 |url-status=dead}} This was seen as a move towards strengthening the co-operation between the two parties heading towards the completion of the merger.