“Genocide is a very big word. I haven’t been to Gaza, and I don’t know," Zille said.
Former Wits vice-chancellor Adam Habib has come under severe criticism after saying DA federal chair Helen Zille was “Joburg’s last hope” despite her position on a reported genocide being committed in Gaza.
At 74 years old, Zille launched her campaign to become mayor of Johannesburg last week.
State of Joburg
The City of Johannesburg is plagued by potholes, electricity and water outages, dysfunctional traffic lights, and raw sewage flowing in the streets.
However, the city has been in a frantic rush to bring the city up to standard ahead of the G20 Summit in November.
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Gaza
While Joburg residents might want to give the DA another chance, especially with Zille as its mayoral candidate, she raised eyebrows when she sidestepped a question about whether genocide was being committed in Gaza. Widespread destruction and mass civilian deaths have led international observers and rights groups to label assaults in the region as genocide.
Despite this, Habib this week said Zille is the “last hope for Joburg”.
“Has she got a horrible hypocritical position on Gaza? Yes! Is her broader position on foreign policy problematic? Yes! Will she be great for economic inequality? No! Then why support her? Habib said.
“Because she can fix water, electricity, roads, billing and corruption in JHB. This is because she has experience in having stewarded the turnaround of a municipality. There is no one else in the race who has her experience or skills and could pull this off. This is what matters!
“This is the tragedy bequeathed by the ANC. Anyone else – ANC, EFF or any other candidates – will break the last functioning elements of the city. She is the only person on the candidate list that will be honest, make the difficult decisions and trade-offs and fix the city,” Habib said.
Voting for Zille
Habib added that “the X outrage and not voting for Zille” will not stop Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or US President Donald Trump from committing genocide in Gaza.
“But it will deprive residents in Joburg of water, electricity, proper billing, and service delivery. Is this a cost that residents are willing to pay?
“Of course, some of the middle classes say that they prepared for this consequence, but they do so from private suburbs with renewable energy, boreholes, and security. The real consequences are borne by the poor who cannot buy themselves out of the collapse of public service,” he said.
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‘Genocide’
Habib said there are some who claim that choosing Zille means “we are normalising genocide.”
“Normalisation of discourse is not influenced by the choice of the mayor in Joburg, especially given the public outcry over her remarks,” Habib said.
“I don’t care whether Helen is 75 years old, I don’t care whether she is white, I don’t care about her ancestry, or her religion or whether I agree with her on all issues. I simply care if she can turn around Johannesburg better than anyone else on the list.
“This is what residents in Johannesburg should care about. If you choose a mayor on the colour of their skin, or their gender or religion, or frankly, whether you agree with them on all issues, then you will continue to be burdened with corruption, incompetence, and lack of service delivery,” Habib said.
Ramaphosa disappointed
In March, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his disappointment with the state of Johannesburg during a meeting with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s government and the municipality’s leaders at the Johannesburg City Council.
Following Ramaphosa’s comments on the state of Johannesburg, Lesufi apologised to the president and vowed to take action.
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