INTRODUCTION
This assignment will discuss
the use of social media in the South African general elections. It also
includes a brief history of electioneering and campaigning in the country’s
twenty year democracy. And the social media’s effectiveness in campaigns and
the impact social media will have on future elections.
A
BRIEF HISTORY OF ELECTIONEERING AND CAMPAIGNING IN SOUTH AFRICA
The first ever general
elections in South Africa, in April 1994, marked a critical moment of freedom
for the majority of the country’s citizens who were refused the right to vote
by the apartheid government. These elections
saw more than just a simple transfer of power but also a moment of liberation
and the final victory over racial oppression. The country has seen another four
general elections taking place since then and in each the ANC (African National
Congress) have been victorious. Campaign strategies used in all the elections
seen by the country have evolved with the times simultaneously.
It is very evident that with
the social media that is readily available to us today in 2014 was not available
back in 1994. The most effective way that politicians could connect to the
general public at any and all levels was to physically be present and interact
with the electorate. The use of People’s Forums succeeded in giving the ANC a
presence on the ground, making leaders accessible and generating the necessary
momentum for the impending poll. With the combination of roadshows in the
ensuing months accompanied by the customary handshake, head-patting and smile,
and by dancing drum majorettes, music and entertainment, plus a speech by Nelson
Mandela, which became a common spectacle across the country, further enhanced
the party’s campaign. Another technique employed by the ANC was that of a
‘postage paid coupon’ permitting non-attendees to write to Mandela directly,
stipulating their biggest concerns and suggesting solutions to overcome
mentioned concerns (Twala, 2014: 564). Other campaign techniques that are still
used today are election posters and negative campaigns. Noted by Ferree (Twala,
2014: 564) to be the most memorable of the negative campaigns in the 1999
electioneering period is when the ANC clearly attacked the Democratic Party’s
(DP’s) ‘Fight Back’ slogan by printing look-a-like posters reading ‘Don’t Fight
Blacks’. With the social media having
become a big part of our lives, it is not surprising that electioneering and
campaigning has moved online as well.
THE
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN ELECTIONEERING
Social media (Facebook,
Twitter, Mxit, etc.) are interactive web-based media platforms that offer ordinary
citizens the opportunity to connect, share opinions, experiences, views,
contacts, knowledge, and expertise (Adibe, et al. 2012: 6). Social media due to
their cost-effective nature has no doubt become a veritable instrument for
carrying out election campaigns and other electioneering activities. Abubukar
(Adibe, et al. 2012: 12) observes that social media has created online
platforms that serve as a new “political capital” where people resort to and
participate in a political discourse.
Before
the advent of the new media, political campaigns and other electioneering
activities blossomed in the traditional media. But the arrival of new media and
lately social interactive media has greatly affected the way the game of politics
is played. Their ability to attract the majority of populations in any country
in the world, in this case that of South Africa, is one of the many reasons why
politicians have turned to them to
attract voters. This has constituted in the increased use of social media by
South African politicians in the run-up to the recent 2014 general elections.
Some parties, Agang SA, in
particular used the social networking site, Twitter, to raise issues that have
been swept under the rug by the ANC and at most largely avoided with their
hashtag #VoteAgangSA in March of this
year (http://www.sabreakingnews.co.za/2014/03/31/agang-sa-says-it-it-like-it-is-on-twitter).
Their tweet campaign got tongues wagging and was even thought to be negative
campaigning on their part against President Zuma and effectively the ANC.
Another politician, Julius Malema, of the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) led
the online popularity contest according to eNCA news
(http://www.enca.com/elections-2014/malema-ahead-online) with 447,000 followers
with Hellen Zille and President Zuma coming in second and third respectively with
411,000 and 319,000 followers each.
THE
EFFECTIVENESS OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CAMPAIGNS
Social media has a
tremendous effect on the campaigns as there are no definitive regulations as to
what someone writes about another opposing party. Perhaps, the most worrisome
of it all is the problem of weak or absence of regulation of the technology as
Kidafa, Odoemelam and Elechi (Adibe, et al. 2012: 8) observe that “regulating
traditional media in the face of issues like obscenity, copyright, right to
privacy, etc, was upheaval, but have became more difficult with the emergence
of social media”. But with low penetration and access especially in the rural
areas of the country and areas that does not have access to electricity, the
issue of not having access to information still lingers. For many who still
live below the poverty line it is , in their eyes, at the moment very much
impossible to reap the abundant benefits of the information revolution that is
happening as we speak (Adibe, et al. 2012: 4). High concentrations of social
media use are still mainly found among urban residents. The increasing use of
social media and other online tools has indeed led to greater privacy
challenges. This is to say that with the great potentials of the internet and
other digital social media, is included the challenges of monitoring and
regulation.
With the negative
campaigning practices adopted by the political parties mentioned above, it is
apparent to see how easy it is to tarnish the image of the opposition in an
instant. It affects campaigns in such a way that damage control on the part of
the party tarnished has to ensue, which then takes away from the electioneering
and campaigning that is more important. The perceptions of the voter will be
changed as well causing a decreased confidence in the manifesto of said party
and its competence.
CONCLUSION
Electioneering and
campaigning has evolved over time from the traditional People’s Forms used by
politicians in 1994 to more modern technologies such as the social media in
combination with traditional methods such as mass rallies an election posters.
Though the rules have not changed they have gained some speed as politics moves
into the virtual realm.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adibe, K.N. Odoemelam, C.C.
& Chibuwe, A. 2012. Social Media,
Electioneering and Sustenance Democracy in Africa: A “Swot” Analysis. Africa
Media and Democracy Journal. 1 (1):
Twala, C. 2014. The
Historical Significance of the African National Congress (ANC) Election
Campaigns 1994-2014: A Genuine Process of Political Liberalisation? Mediterranean
Journal of Social Sciences. 5 (7): 562-568
Matroos, J. 2014. Agang Says
it Like it is on Twitter. Available at: http://www.sabreakingnews.co.za/2014/03/31/agang-sa-says-it-it-like-it-is-on-twitter
[Accessed 28 July 2014]
Malema Leading the Online
Popularity Contest. Available at: http://www.enca.com/elections-2014/malema-ahead-online
[Accessed 30 July 2014]
