Patricia de Lille is the 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). Patricia de Lille File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Independent Democrats are a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) (later the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania), was a South African liberation movement, that is now a minor political party. ...

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. She was appointed Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Transport from 1994 - 1999, and was also made the Chief Whip of the PAC. The central area of Cape Town as seen from Table Mountain. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 General Election results, National Assembly African National Congress (ANC) 12,237,655 62. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The Chief Whip is a political office in some legislatures assigned to an elected member whose task is to administer the whipping system that ensures that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ...

She was voted 22nd in the Top 100 Great South Africans (see List of South Africans). Top 100 Great South Africans In September 2004, thousands of South Africans took part in an informal nationwide poll to determine the 100 Greatest South Africans of all time. ...

Criticism

Whilst considered by most to be a progressive, conscientious feminist politician, de Lille has come under criticism from major opposition parties on a number of issues: During her time with the PAC, de Lille brokered a deal between the party and terrorist group PAGAD, and even went as far as criticising the police for arresting and detaining members of the organisation. De Lille also lobbied to prevent government from carrying out court-authorised removals of unlawful land tenants from farms near Johannesburg, in a move criticised by opposition parties as Mugabesque. More recently, de Lille’s poor parliamentary attendance record has also been the subject of criticism, whilst former members of the party have accused her of running her party in a “dictatorial” manner. [1] (http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Elections2004/0,,2-7-1557_1504685,00.html) People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD) was formed in 1996 as a community anticrime group fighting drugs and violence in the Cape Flats section of Cape Town, South Africa, but by early 1998 had also become antigovernment and anti-Western. ...