By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has announced Haniff Hoosen as the party’s mayoral candidate for eThekwini in 2026.
The announcement was made during a live event at Havenside Community Hall in Chatsworth.
“It is with huge pride that I can introduce you today that fighting campaigner, that general, a man who has served you in council, a man with experience in parliament, a leader who has the knowledge, the experience, but most of all, the courage to rebuild this city,” Steenhuisen said, introducing Hoosen as the DA’s candidate to lead the city’s renewal.
He added, “Under his leadership, we are going to restore dignity in our neighbourhoods and invest in our townships. We’re going to light up our streets, fix our water tanks, sewage systems, and make this city work for all its citizens.”
Steenhuisen, who was raised in Durban and served as a city councillor for a decade, spoke about the challenges facing the city under the current ANC-led government.
“Durban is not merely where I grew up; it is where my family is, it is my home, it is my community.
“And it is because I, like you, love this city that I am unwilling to watch it fall into decay, corruption, and maladministration. It’s time to clean up and clean out.”
In his acceptance speech, Hoosen has promised that if elected mayor, he will champion service delivery in the city.
He also promised to transform the city’s government and economy by addressing decades of poor governance, speeding up the process of recovering uncollected debt and directing those funds towards service delivery.
“Within the first few days of taking over the city, we will start a process of reducing waste and make life easier and more affordable for people in the city. From day 1 we will start a process to recover more than R40bn that this city has not bothered to collect, and we will direct that money towards fixing the pipes, so people can get better access to water and not have to pay for water seeping into the ground.”
The legacy of poor governance had caused a loss of faith in the municipality, he said, but pledged if elected to restore public confidence by prioritising transparency and accountability measures such as lifestyle audits.
Hoosen is the former DA KwaZulu-Natal provincial chairperson and held the position for over 8 years.
He has also previously served as DA shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Home Affairs, and the Portfolio committee on the Auditor-General.