MANDY WIENER | The social media election is upon us

It also sparked action from the Johannesburg mayor, Dada Morero.

On Wednesday last week, a local publication put out a story about the problematic pothole that has been plaguing residents for over three years. On Saturday, Zille arrived with her snorkel and went for a swim. The video went viral. Residents had repeatedly logged complaints, but the problem was never fixed. On Sunday morning, the Joburg Roads Agency arrived and worked throughout the day to fix the hole. On Tuesday, Morero visited the site and did a dull, lengthy piece to camera with as much inspiration as a wet fish.

The comparison between how Zille has embraced social media to campaign and how the ANC has failed to do so is a communications thesis.

Zille’s team has clearly thrown resources at the strategy with regulation content, high-level production values and creative exchanges.

At the launch of the IEC’s new slogan and logo for local government elections, the CEO, Sy Mambola, emphasised the importance of digital campaigning.

“Any brand that ignores the use of social media is living in old times. For you to remain relevant and for you to reach people who you intend to reach, such as the youth, such as the general voting population,” said Mamabola. The IEC has specifically developed a new tag line and bright logo to appeal to young people on digital media.

The media landscape has changed, and so too has how politicians reach the electorate during campaigns.

The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 speaks of the rise of news consumption via video platforms such as TikTok.

It highlights a shifting South African media landscape dominated by smartphone access, high social media consumption, and growing AI scepticism. Audiences show great concern regarding misinformation, selective news avoidance, and increased reliance on video platforms and influencers.

(Note: The data is based on a survey of English-speaking, online news users in SA, an important part of a larger, more diverse media market. Respondents are generally more affluent, younger, have higher levels of formal education and are more likely to live in cities than the wider South African population, so findings should not be taken to be nationally representative.)

For South Africans, their source of news is 88% online, 71% via social media, television has declined to 55%, and print has plummeted from 40% in 2019 to 19%.

The majority of South Africans, 88%, use their phone to access news.

Not all politicians have grasped this changing landscape. Some are early adopters.

The Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has been getting it right for some time now. His Instagram and Twitter feeds regularly show him doing pieces to camera on the ground, explaining policy and interacting with citizens.

What both Hill-Lewis and Zille have got right is that they are not afraid of new media, they poke fun at themselves, and they use humour to engage. They distil the story, keep the narrative simple and produce content that is palatable and shareable.

Other politicians from other political parties are making the shift, too.

The Patriotic Alliance’s Gayton McKenzie has worked out that if he uses Facebook Live to communicate with his base, his message will be unfiltered by the media. He rarely gives interviews to ‘mainstream media’ but rather chooses to deliver addresses via his own personal social media platforms.

Some in the ANC are getting it right. None more so than President Cyril Ramaphosa. However, it is quite apparent that it is the team behind him, primarily his social media guru Athi Geleba, that is making him shine on his platforms. The behind-the-scenes content and snippets from official engagements make him more accessible than any other ANC politician.

While some of this is posted on her own personal account, the President’s Twitter and Facebook feeds are well curated, although his Instagram account hasn’t been used since 2021.

ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula is another who ‘gets it’. He has a personal media content team that follows him around. When I went to interview him at Luthuli House last year, high-resolution photographs of the interview were up on his X account within minutes. He uses the platform to self-promote, to subtweet, to land political messages and to engage with his more than 3 million followers.

Similarly, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi uses X to give him the common touch and make himself accessible. So too does the EFF’s Julius Malema, Action SA’s Herman Mashaba, Rise Mzansi’s Songezo Zibi, BOSA’s Mmusi Maimane and others.  

Political commentary and analysis are firmly shifting into the digital space. Podcasts are the new currency. It’s where people are going to make up their minds about important issues. Politicians are going to have to harness these avenues if they want to speak directly to the electorate. There is an enormous, untapped youth vote in South Africa, people who have not bothered to get out to the polls in the past.

If the candidates want to grow their support, they will have to hit both the real streets and the social media streets to campaign.