‘Chatsworth boy could be mayor’
DA’s provincial chairman needs ‘elusive’ Indian vote
HANIFF Hoosen of Chatsworth believes he has a good chance of becoming eThekwini Municipality’s next mayor after local government elections later this year.
But Hoosen, 43, said he would need the elusive Indian vote to claim the post.
He’s now the DA’s KwaZuluNatal chairman and was confirmed as the party’s mayoral candidate in December.
The party has planned to announce its list of councillors on Friday.
He is expected to lead the DA in the build-up to voting.
For Hoosen to become eThekwini’s number one citizen, the DA has to unseat the ANC as the ruling party. In the 2011 elections, the ANC won 126 seats (62 percent) of the 204 seats on offer. The DA became the official opposition, but only raked in 43 seats (21 percent).
“Realistically speaking, I think we can achieve a coalition government with other opposition parties, and rule eThekwini, which has an annual budget of R40 billion.
“I predict the ANC will hit below 50 percent of the vote. Therefore, if the opposition can muster 51 percent of the seats, I could become mayor,” he said.
Hoosen said he based his optimism partly on the results of the Quality of Life Survey, which was released in 2014.
“The survey showed a large majority of eThekwini residents were dissatisfied with service delivery, deemed the region to be unsafe and didn’t believe there was adequate job opportunities and economic development.”
Hoosen also singled out the significance of the Indian vote. “If every Indian in this region registered and voted, they would hold the balance of power and that could prove essential,” he said.
He said in the past 10 years the DA had shown growth and he believed the party’s upward trajectory would continue in 2016.
“That’s why I believe as a Chatsworth boy, I could become the next mayor, because the ANC’s failings certainly present us with an opportunity.”
Political analyst Protas Madlala said that with elections around the corner, you’d expect such views and the ANC could be beaten.
“The ANC lost Cape Town under similar circumstances. The DA and Patricia De Lille’s Independent Democrats formed a coalition government and ousted the ANC,” Madlala said. Hoosen was secretary general of the ID.
However, the ANC’s provincial spokesman, Mdumiseni Ntuli, denied suggestions his party would lose control of the metro.
“He (Hoosen) has to convey such messages at this time, but it is a futile attempt because the ANC will retain power in eThekwini.
“The reality is that the ANC has done well in eThekwini,” he said.