Democratic Alliance (DA) eThekwini mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen has criticised black political leadership, saying it has failed the communities it claims to represent.
“I don’t want to speak about race in our communities because I believe our problems are the same. But the truth of the matter is that black South Africans in Durban are suffering more than any other races,” Hoosen told the Mail & Guardian.
Hoosen was on the campaign trail in Ezinkawini, near Verulam north of Durban, where residents have reportedly been without running water for six years, despite having functional water meters and being billed by the eThekwini municipality.
“I don’t want to attack other political parties; it’s not my job. But the message is clear: don’t allow politicians to fool you any longer with food parcels and money. They lie and after elections you do not see them again,” he said.
He also criticised the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party), saying it would not bring meaningful change. “People from the ANC have just become MK. It’s one and the same thing, the only difference is the colour of the T-shirts. People must be smarter this time.”
Hoosen, a former MP and senior DA leader who previously served as the party’s provincial chairperson, was announced in September last year as the DA’s mayoral candidate for eThekwini before the 2026 municipal elections.
The move surprised some within the party, with expectations that uMngeni mayor Chris Pappas would be the front-runner, given his popularity and record in turning around the once-struggling municipality.
Hoosen also stood as the DA’s eThekwini mayoral candidate in the 2016 local government elections but was defeated by the ANC’s Zandile Gumede, who is facing legal proceedings.
The stakes in eThekwini remain high, with a budget of more than R70 billion and multiple political parties competing for control of the country’s third-largest metro. The emergence of the MK Party, led by former president Jacob Zuma, has further intensified the contest.
Meanwhile, residents continue to face basic service delivery challenges. Thembelihle Mazibuko, 29, said water shortages had left households in difficult and undignified conditions.
“We have to buy water and sometimes there’s no money. So, we have to choose between buying water or buying food. It’s a painful ordeal which takes away one’s dignity. Nobody is giving us answers about when the water problem will be sorted,” she said.
DA eThekwini mayoral candidate Haniff Hoosen has criticised black political leadership, saying it has failed residents amid service delivery crises including chronic water shortages in Durban communities
