President
Patricia de Lille, the president of the Independent Democrats, has been active in politics for a quarter of a century. She is known for her role as a trade unionist in the struggle and as the initial whistle-blower on the infamous arms-deal corruption.

In 1988 she was elected vice-president of the National Council of Trade Unions. She became an MP in 1994 after leading the PAC delegation in the constitutional negotiations in Kempton Park and went on to chair the parliamentary committee on transport until 1999. On March 26 2003 she formed the Independent Democrats, which won national and provincial seats in the 2004 elections, becoming the first woman since freedom to do so.

De Lille has been the recipient of numerous awards including being voted Woman of the Year by Rapport/City Press and one of the Top 5 Women in Government and Government Agencies, and has been recognised as a leading HIV/Aids activist by an international organisation. She is a former chancellor of the Durban Institute of Technology, an honorary colonel in the SANDF and serves on the boards of the African Monitor, the Helen Suzman Foundation and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.

She has been described by Nelson Mandela as "a strong, principled woman" and his "favourite opposition politician".

The IDs' Secretary-General and MP, Haniff Hoosen, hails from Durban and studied for a B Proc degree in Law.
In 1994 he was the youngest candidate to Parliament and later served as a Councillor on the Durban Metro Council from 1996 to 2001.
 
In September 2005 Hoosen joined the Independent Democrats and was soon after appointed as the IDs' Election Campaign Manager in March 2006.
After becoming a member of the IDs' National Executive Committee, Hoosen was elected as the IDs' Secretary General in 2007 where after he was elected to National Parliament in 2008.
Hoosen currently serves on the Education and Safety & Security portfolio committees.
He is also the former Chairperson of the Independent Democrats Councillors Forum.

Lance Greyling is an MP for the ID and the Chief Whip of the parliamentary caucus as well as the interim National Policy Convenor. His major areas of interest are environment, rural development and energy.

Before assuming public office Mr. Greyling was the Regional Programme Manager for GLOBE Southern Africa, where he was in charge of capacitating Members of Parliament in the Southern African region on environmental and sustainable development issues.
Mr. Greyling has an honours degree in African Studies from the University of Cape Town and is presently completing a Masters programme on sustainable energy.
He serves on the board of My Life, an organisation aimed at empowering youth who are currently living on the streets, and on the board of the Bulungula Incubator, an NGO concerned with the development of a rural community.   

Joe Mcgluwa, the National Organiser of the Independent Democrats, who has overseen the rapid growth of the party by setting up constituency offices country-wide, was born in Johannesburg and grew up in Klerksdorp in the 1960s and 1970s.

His roles as national organizer include the assessment and verification of party structures, undertaking regular performance audits of all constituency offices throughout the country and arranging programmes of visits to all provinces by the party President.

In addition, he supervises all constituency offices and organizers of the party.

Mcgluwa has been with the Independent Democrats since its inception.