Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za
3-minute read
26 September 2025 | 14:53 CAT

📸 ASRI Report | Dr Imraan Baccus – “Zille’s ‘efficiency’ masks genocide denial & protects privilege.

In this week’s Auwal Socio-Economic Research Institute’s (ASRI Report), Senior Research Associate at ASRI and Political Analyst Dr Imraan Baccus weighed in on Helen Zille’s controversial remarks and the wider implications of masking injustice under the language of efficiency.

Dr Baccus described Zille’s comments, particularly her dismissal of genocide as “a big word” and her claim that she has “never been to Gaza” as profoundly unsettling. He compared such denial to refusing the reality of the Holocaust simply because one had not been to Europe. “The humanity of Palestinians means very little for people like Zille,” he argued, stressing that the bombing of hospitals, the starvation of civilians, and the destruction of universities cannot be written off as “collateral damage.”

Linking Zille’s rhetoric to colonial patterns, Baccus explained that denial has long been a tool of empire. “Colonial powers historically justified their actions by portraying indigenous people as inferior, in this case, the Palestinians and by reframing violence and conquest as development or civilisation,” he said. In this framing, the responsibility for suffering is shifted onto the colonised.

The conversation turned to the contested notion of “efficiency,” often invoked by political figures such as Adam Habib and Zille herself. Baccus acknowledged that efficiency is necessary, but asked pointedly: “Efficiency for who?” He noted how in Cape Town, efficiency often serves the middle class, while townships remain excluded. “Competency and delivery are not neutral virtues,” he cautioned.

When asked whether Zille would make a good mayor for Johannesburg, Baccus acknowledged the city’s deep crisis of corruption and failing services. Yet he warned that efficiency cannot be divorced from ethics. “A city can’t be built on moral bankruptcy,” he said. “Yes, we need ethics to build a city and we need efficiency. Unfortunately, in our current state of politics, we don’t have both in one party.”

The danger, he explained, is that efficiency becomes a shield for privilege, while justice and transformation are sidelined. Reflecting on South Africa’s own democratic transition, he reminded listeners that efficiency without justice leaves structural inequalities intact.

“Bottom line, you can’t separate efficiency from justice,” Dr Baccus concluded. “Efficiency must be married to an ethical paradigm acceptable to those who are justice-loving and peace-loving. Otherwise, the price we pay is too high, the normalisation of genocide abroad and the protection of privilege at home.”

Listen to the full ASRI Report on Sabahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat and Dr Imraan Baccus.