Minority Front promises billing, water and safety reforms in eThekwini

THE Minority Front (MF) has launched its eThekwini manifesto for the 2026 local government elections, promising reforms to municipal billing, water services, safety, jobs and accountability.

At the Pavilion Hotel, in Durban on Thursday, MF leader and eThekwini mayoral candidate Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi said the party’s return to the November 4, local government elections (LGE), would be a turning point for Durban.

She said the MF did not contest the last LGE following the “deeply painful period” following the tragic deaths of her deaths of her children, Pradil and Priyanka.

Thakur-Rajbansi said the loss had profoundly changed her, but that she believed the needs of communities had compelled her to return to public life.

“I have experienced the greatest pain that any mother could ever experience. Losing my children changed me forever. But life has also taught me that our pain cannot prevent us from serving others.”

“I believe South Africa needs us now more than ever. Our communities need leaders who are prepared to listen, who understand their struggles and who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work. I am coming back because I still believe in the power of service.”

Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi and Minority Front candidates with the oldest member of the party, Sunklavathy "Margaret" Rajbally.

She said the party’s 2026 candidates were deliberately assembled from different generations, professions, communities and socio-economic backgrounds.

It also included experienced community leaders alongside younger people entering politics, with the intention of bringing different perspectives to local government.

“We are not presenting a team of politicians who want positions. We are presenting principled people who want to work,” Thakur-Rajbansi said.

She said the MF’s campaign would focus on practical and budget-related interventions affecting residents, including water, electricity, housing, employment, safety, municipal billing, infrastructure and accountability.

“The people of eThekwini need functioning services, safer communities, opportunities for young people and a municipal leadership that respects the people who pay their rates and taxes,” she said.

‘Restoring Durban’ is at the centre of the MF's mayoral campaign, with the party promising to make service delivery the first priority of the municipality.

Under its first pillar, “Fixing eThekwini”, the MF proposes ward-based service monitoring systems, performance targets for municipal departments, improved response times to complaints and public reporting mechanisms allowing residents to track service requests.