Patricia de Lille is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Tourism and leader of the political party Good. She served as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure from 2019 to 2023.
She was previously Mayor of Cape Town from 2011 to 2018 and before that, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Social Development from 2010 to 2011. She founded and led the Independent Democrats , a political party which she formed in 2003 during a floor-crossing window, after she broke away from the Pan Africanist Congress . In August 2010, the ID merged with the Democratic Alliance, South Africa's official opposition, and the party was officially dissolved in 2014. From 2015 to 2017, she was Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape.
De Lille was selected as the DA's mayoral candidate in Cape Town, defeating incumbent Dan Plato, ahead of the 2011 local government elections, where she was elected mayor. She was re-elected to a second term as mayor in the 2016 local government elections.De Lille was voted 22nd in the Top 100 Great South Africans, and is noted for her role in investigations into the country's controversial Arms Deal.On 8 May 2018, the DA's Federal Executive ceased De Lille's party membership, thereby removing her as mayor of the DA governed city. The Western Cape High Court temporarily suspended her removal. On 5 August 2018, De Lille announced her intention to resign as Mayor of Cape Town. She resigned as mayor and terminated her DA party membership on 31 October 2018.
Consequently, she formed Good in December 2018, and was announced as the party's Western Cape Premier candidate in February 2019. She was elected to Parliament in May 2019 and took office as a Member on 22 May 2019. On 29 May 2019, De Lille was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure. In March 2023, she became the Minister of Tourism.
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