eThekwini mayoral candidates put water crisis and accountability at centre of election pitches

Three eThekwini mayoral candidates outline their proposals ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

Three eThekwini mayoral candidates outline their proposals for addressing the city’s water crisis, improving municipal finances and strengthening accountability ahead of the 2026 local government elections.

Illovo Beach resident, Singh’s foray into politics has been a gradual progression. 

Always keen on helping the community, Singh ran as an African Christian Democratic Party candidate 10 years ago in Ward 97 in Amanzimtoti. Following the decade-long hiatus, Singh decided to stand for election once again, but this time with the PA.

"eThekwini is bleeding because of corruption. It is time for ethical leadership to lead with integrity,” said Singh. 

Addressing the current water crisis in eThekwini, Singh said that reliable water and electricity must be the foundation of a functioning city. 

"Our commitment is to put an urgent water recovery programme before council within the first 100 days, mobilise municipal teams and fairly appoint local plumbers to tackle the backlog, prioritise reservoirs, pumps, pipelines and electricity equipment serving the worst-hit communities and publish outage notices, repair progress and emergency tanker schedules.” 

Singh believes that the work of rebuilding eThekwini needs to create opportunities for the youth. 

"We need to link infrastructure repairs, environmental maintenance and cleaning programmes to paid youth employment.” 

Regarding immigration, he said he intended pushing for the mass deportation of undocumented foreign nationals, and in the economic and employment sector, to replace black economic empowerment (BEE) with an empowerment levy, liberalise power generation, and promote youth military service (conscription). 

He said the financial recovery of the city should begin with accountability, fairness and responsible leadership. 

"We will pursue money that is lawfully owed to the city, hold major debtors and government departments accountable, eliminate billing errors, confront corruption and close the loopholes through which municipal revenue is lost.

"Every rand recovered must contribute to building a better eThekwini: reliable water, functioning sanitation, safer roads, cleaner communities and improved infrastructure. Our principle is simple, collect fairly, spend responsibly and deliver visibly. 

"I will also commit to independent lifestyle audits for senior municipal officials, subject to the applicable legal framework, and I would expect the same standards of integrity from myself that I demand from others.” 

In an economic climate of declining revenue, Singh said his approach would be to cut waste before cutting services, eliminate underperforming expenditure before increasing tariffs, and protect essential infrastructure and vulnerable households.

He said accountability must not end on election day, and that he proposed a formal Community Accountability Charter that required the mayor and mayoral committee to engage directly with communities throughout the five-year term.

Retired school teacher Maphumulo-Mashinini is the mayoral candidate for the AMC, a political party formed by businessman Roy Moodley in October 2023. The Amanzimtoti resident was previously a member of the Inkatha Freedom Party, the National Freedom Party, the United Democratic Movement and the Allied Movement for Change.  

Addressing the water crisis in eThekwini, she said the party’s plan was to introduce research undertaken by scientists from India investigating atmospheric water-generation.  "This is the kind of forward-thinking approach our communities need: identifying problems, researching solutions and exploring possibilities that could change people’s lives.

"My vision is to build on initiatives like this by working with scientists, engineers, government institutions and relevant stakeholders to explore sustainable ways of improving access to clean drinking water throughout eThekwini, particularly in communities that have endured water shortages for far too long.

"If the technology proves safe, effective and financially sustainable at the required scale, it could become one part of a broader strategy to improve access to drinking water, especially in underserved communities. "However, we must also address ageing infrastructure, leaking pipes, water distribution and municipal accountability. Our people need solutions that address both immediate shortages and the underlying causes of this crisis. Water must reach the people, public money must produce results, and officials must be held accountable for their responsibilities.”  

Maphumulo-Mashinini said the municipality could not provide sustainable services if its finances were poorly managed, and that improving revenue collection must not mean squeezing more money from residents who are already struggling to survive. 

“My approach would be to improve the collection of revenue that is legally owed while ensuring that residents are billed accurately and treated fairly. “First, I would push for a review of the billing system to identify incorrect charges, faulty meters, duplicate billing and unexplained adjustments. Residents must have access to a transparent and efficient process for disputing their accounts.

“Second, the municipality must improve the collection of legitimate outstanding debts from customers who can afford to pay, including businesses and other debtors, while respecting applicable laws and contractual obligations.

“Third, qualifying indigent households must receive the assistance available to them under municipal policy. We should explore affordable payment arrangements for residents experiencing genuine financial hardship rather than treating every unpaid account as deliberate refusal to pay.

“We must also strengthen the monitoring of municipal revenue, reduce billing errors and ensure that money collected is used responsibly,” said Maphumulo-Mashinini. 

She supports independent lifestyle audits for senior municipal officials, adding that the audits must be conducted lawfully, independently and fairly, with proper safeguards for privacy and due process.

“Equally important is the protection of whistleblowers. Many people remain silent about corruption because they fear intimidation, victimisation or losing their jobs.” If municipal revenue declines, Maphumulo-Mashinini said she would not begin by cutting essential services that vulnerable communities depend on. 

“We must first examine where public money is being wasted, where contracts are underperforming, and where expenditure does not deliver meaningful value to residents.

“I would push for a comprehensive expenditure review to identify unnecessary administrative costs, wasteful spending, avoidable travel expenses, excessive consultancy costs where internal capacity is available, and contracts that consistently fail to deliver their agreed outcomes.

“We must also evaluate underperforming programmes against clear performance targets. Where a programme is ineffective, we should establish whether it can be improved, redesigned or discontinued in accordance with the law and the municipality’s obligations.” 

Anti-crime and social activist Syed has been involved in politics for seven years.  

His progression into politics hit a turning point when he founded ACC in 2019. 

 "Working with communities at grassroots level, I realised more could be done from within the walls of council and so we founded the ACC, a political party dedicated and committed to finding ways of improving the living conditions and lives of South Africans," said Syed. 

 He said the ACC was contesting the LGE so that “hope stays alive”.    

 As part of his mayoral duties, Syed will implement the ACC manifesto, which includes that 25% of rates derived from a ward must be spent within that ward.

Syed said industrial areas within the municipality should have a business association comprising property owners. This, he said, would allow business owners decision-making powers for development, and he would propose that at least 60% of the rates generated be used for the development in that area. 

 In his revenue recovery program, Syed said not all water revenue lost "is in the ground".    

 "An average of 58% of the losses is non-revenue water that is not in the ground. About 46% of that quantity is supplied for free to about 1 million households in Durban’s informal settlements and hostels. About half of these households contribute to rates. The balance gets water for free. 

“Water is a basic human right. But that 46% is equivalent to R148m a month, and our officials have not measured the water we give away. And the mandate to give away water to these and other indigent households is from the national government.   

"In 2011, the amount of water we gave away was 11%, with 380 000 people living in the informal sector. In 2026, we will give away 46% of our water to about one million people living in the informal sector. With 11%, it was okay to cross-subsidise. When it is 46%, we cannot cross-subsidise because it is an exorbitant amount for those of us who pay, to carry on paying that.

"So, the first thing for us to do is to measure the water. In addition, every informal settlement needs to be bulk-metered, and we need to send those bills to the custodians of informal settlements, which is the Department of Human Settlements."   

To ensure that his mayoral committee was transparent, Syed suggested every department within the committee provide progress reports weekly on a single platform. 

"This should take the form of the city web page. Live reports of repairs and capital upgrades with approved plans for future-dated projects that have been approved should be included." 

While he said municipal officials should undergo lifestyle audits, he added that corruption and tender fraud were not detected in audits but in forensic investigations. 

"The Special Investigative Unit should be autonomous and free of corruption. Any company doing business with the city must have a clean audit track record.

Accountability and transparency are only achievable through accessibility. A bi-weekly report from all senior officials on the progress in their departments should be mandatory.

"The one thing we don't have in the council is passion.  People need to be passionate about working with people and finding solutions. As ACC, we have been working with communities and are passionate about helping."