Haniff Hoosen

A former member of Parliament who retired in 2024, he was the DA's eThekwini mayoral candidate in 2016 and lives in Chatsworth, Durban. He is the DA's candidate for Mayor of eThekwini in the 4 November 2026 local government elections.

Career

Hoosen began in politics as a member of Parliament for the Independent Democrats before joining the DA, where he has been active for about 30 years. Daily Maverick says he served nearly 17 years as an MP and earlier sat on the metro council. He was the DA's eThekwini mayoral candidate in 2016, losing to the ANC's Zandile Gumede. His DA roles included KwaZulu-Natal provincial chair and shadow minister of Home Affairs and of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. He retired from Parliament in 2024 and was announced as the 2026 candidate in September 2025.

Positions

Hoosen has pledged to fight corrupt tenders, run a transparent government in which residents can track service delivery, fix the water crisis and leaks, repair potholes, streetlights and sanitation, stop sewage spills on beaches and recover billions in uncollected municipal debt. In an interview he said he regrets not learning isiZulu and regrets DA posters during the 2021 unrest that he said inflamed tensions in Phoenix, adding that the party disciplined those involved.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. Daily News · Daily Maverick · Wikipedia