The following speech was delivered by DA eThekwini Mayoral Candidate, Haniff Hoosen, at the water crisis picket at Pinetown Water and Sanitation Depo on 10 September 2026
The DA’s plan to get water into eThekwini’s taps:
– Invest R10 billion to rebuild the water network.
– Protect water revenue.
– Put performance on the scoreboard.
– Learn from municipalities that are getting it right.
– Bring in the private sector.
– Investigate the “water mafia”.
– Reinvest every saving.
– Recruit the best technical skills.
– Build a rapid-response repair force.
– Use technology to find leaks before they become disasters
As I speak to you today, there are more than 13000 active water leaks throughout the city and we are losing more than 65% of our water.
Millions of litres of clean drinking water escaping into the ground, streets and drains, while residents are being told there isn’t enough water to supply their homes.
This is an emergency that requires an urgent and immediate response.
For far too long we have allowed our city government to escape accountability for their failures, and today we are here to draw a line in the sand.
We are here to send a message to the ANC and IFP led government to say that we will no longer remain silent for their failures.
Let me begin with a simple question:
How much worse must Durban’s water crisis become before those responsible are held accountable?
Let us be absolutely clear:
Durban does not simply have a water crisis only.
Durban also has a leadership crisis.
Because this crisis didn’t just occur overnight, it is a crisis caused by years of neglect by our useless ANC and IFP leadership.
Ten years ago, Durban was losing about 33% of its water.
Today, that figure has almost doubled to 65%.
Let that sink in.
Ten years ago, one out of every three litres was being lost. Today, more than two out of every three litres are being lost.
And this is not some sudden crisis that appeared overnight.
In April 2023, the municipality introduced a so-called Water Turnaround Strategy. At that time water losses were already around 58%.
Forty months later, the losses have increased to more than 65%.
So we have to ask:
What exactly has been turned around when the water crisis is getting worse.
The numbers are going in the wrong direction, promises have been repeated, but the water is still disappearing.
And ordinary residents are paying the price.
The estimated cost to residents is almost R3 billion every year.
3 Billion rands that could have been used to fix the pipes instead of flowing into the drains.
And then the consequences become a vicious cycle.
Water is lost, Supply becomes unreliable, Tankers are deployed and mafia are cashing in, whilst residents are paying more, but receiving less.
That is the reality facing the people of Durban.
Residents are being told to conserve water while the municipality itself is allowing an enormous amount of the city’s water to disappear into the drains.
You cannot ask residents to carry the burden of conservation while the municipality fails to stop the wastage.
This is not acceptable in a city of Durban’s size and economic importance.
Durban’s water loss is three times more than Cape Town. This is not a small difference. And that’s why Durban has now become known as the water loss capital of south Africa.
This is a management failure of enormous proportions.
And floods cannot be used as the permanent excuse.
Yes, floods have damaged critical infrastructure.
But floods do not explain two decades of sustained water losses.
While residents are expected to live with dry taps, leaking infrastructure and water tankers, senior officials continue to occupy positions of enormous responsibility.
In December 2025, the Deputy Head of Water and Sanitation was promoted to become the Executive Director of Water and Sanitation, with an additional R1 million a year added to his salary package.
That official is Mr Ednick Msweli.
Let me be very clear:
We are not opposed to paying good people good salaries.
But high salaries must come with high performance.
You cannot pay millions of rands to senior officials while the department under their responsibility continues to fail residents on this scale.
Water losses are increasing, thousands of leaks remain active, communities are suffering and billions are wasted, Yet accountability remains conspicuously absent.
There must be consequences for failure.
The DA has already challenged Mr Msweli’s appointment in court, with judgment pending.
So today I want to make a very clear call.
I call on Mayor Cyril Xaba and Municipal Manager Musa Mbhele to suspend Executive Director Ednick Msweli with immediate effect, pending a full investigation into the performance and management of the Water and Sanitation Department.
Not next month.
Not after another strategy.
Not after another press conference.
Immediately.
This is not about making Mr Msweli a political scapegoat.
This is about establishing accountability.
When a department fails this badly, the person responsible for leading that department must answer for that failure.
And if the Mayor refuses to act, then the people of Durban must fire him instead on the 4th of November.
Because accountability cannot be something that exists only on paper.
It must have consequences.
But I want to make something else very clear today. The people of Durban can no longer rely on our current government to fix this crisis. They have proven that they are incapable and all their promises and plans have only resulted in more water in our drains.
We are here today to say to the people of our beautiful city, HELP IS ON THE WAY
We have a plan.
A plan that is practical, properly funded, realistic and very achievable. A plan that has been worked wherever people have given the DA a chance to govern their towns and cities.
And today we are ready to bring that same plan here to Durban.
A plan built around three principles:
Invest more. Professionalise the department. Hold people accountable.
Our goal is simple:
Water in every tap. Not tankers on every street.
Our 10-Point Water Recovery Plan starts with a commitment to invest no less than R10 billion in the immediate term to rebuild and repair the water network.
We will unlock funding by cutting non-essential expenditure, aggressively recovering the municipality’s approximately R50 billion in outstanding debt, maximising grant funding and prioritising critical infrastructure.
Second, we will protect water revenue.
Money collected for water must be spent on water.
Every rand collected for a trading service must be protected and directed towards maintaining and improving that service.
Third, we will put performance on the scoreboard.
Senior managers will have clear, measurable targets.
How many leaks are fixed?
How quickly are they fixed?
How much is non-revenue water reduced?
If targets are missed without credible justification, there must be consequences.
Fourth, we will learn from municipalities that are getting it right.
Durban does not need to reinvent the wheel.
Where other municipalities have reduced water losses, we will study what works, adapt it and implement it. We have already received an invitation from experts in the city of cape town and they stand ready to assist the people of Durban to end this water crisis.
Fifth, we will bring in the private sector where the municipality lacks capacity.
We need engineering expertise.
We need technology and additional capacity.
And our position is simple:
We don’t care who fixes the pipe. We care that the pipe gets fixed.
Sixth, we will investigate the so-called “water mafia.”
We will investigate procurement, contractors, illegal connections, water tankering and internal municipal failures.
Where corruption, deliberate negligence or wrongdoing is found, there must be consequences.
No political connections. No protected officials. No sacred cows.
Seventh, every saving will be reinvested into the water system.
Stop the losses and Save the money.
Put those savings back into pipes, reservoirs, reticulation, pump stations and further leak reduction.
Eighth, we will recruit the best technical skills.
Durban needs experienced engineers, project managers, technicians and specialists.
We need people who can solve problems.
We need engineers who can fix the system—not bureaucrats who can explain why it cannot be fixed.
Ninth, we will establish a rapid-response repair force.
A major burst pipe should trigger an emergency response.
Not a month-long waiting period. Not endless complaints.
Find the leak. Fix the leak. Restore the water. Move to the next leak.
And tenth, we will use modern technology to detect problems before they become disasters.
Early leak detection.
Pressure monitoring.
Smart metering.
Network mapping.
Predictive maintenance.
We must stop waiting for pipes to burst before we act.
We must find the problem before it becomes a crisis.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Durban’s water crisis did not happen overnight.
It has been building for years.
But it can be fixed.
We have the resources.
We have the revenue base.
We have the technical expertise.
We have the technology.
What has been missing is political will, competent management and accountability.
And that is what the DA intends to bring.
We will not accept a city where residents pay more and receive less.
We will not accept a city where water is bought with taxpayers’ money only to disappear through broken infrastructure.
We will not accept endless promises followed by another strategy, another announcement and another deadline.
And we will not accept senior officials being rewarded while residents suffer.
The era of excuses must end.
The era of accountability must begin.
Today can become the day on which we begin ending the water crisis in Durban, but it is up to the people of this city to decide if they want more of the same or a government that can fix the water crisis once and for all.
Our message is simple.
We want water in our Taps, not tankers.
Water in every home.
A water system that works.
And a government that takes responsibility when it doesn’t.
That is the Durban the DA will build.