South African Political Parties Have Embraced Social Media,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PRETORIA 000779

DEPT FOR AF/S - RMARBURG
DEPT FOR AF/PD - LALLISON, RBROOKS
DEPT FOR IIP/AS - CBERGIN

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL SA KDEM SF
SUBJECT: South African Political Parties Have Embraced Social Media,
But Is Anyone Listening?


1. SUMMARY: (U) Reportedly inspired by the dynamic e-campaign of
President Obama, South African political parties have launched
multifaceted digital platforms to reach voters in advance of the
April 22 elections. Most parties now have targeted websites, voter
activism forums, interactive media opportunities and blogs by party
leaders, as well as outreach through Twitter and Facebook. However,
in a country where only 10% of the population is online, media
experts see little return on this investment in this election. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) According to a recent report, "Internet Access in South
Africa," released by World Wide Worx, a South African technology
research firm, the number of internet users in South Africa grew by
12.5% to 4.6 million users in 2008, equaling approximately 10.5% of
South Africa's estimated population of 43,786,115. In contrast,
over 90% of the population uses cell phones in South Africa.
However, political parties have made little obvious effort to
exploit this cheap and easy access to party members and voters.

Big Parties, Big Online Official Presence... What Ompact?


3. (U) South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress
(ANC),takes a government-focused approach to its online presence
(www.myanc.org). Election information is buried in the site and
there are only infrequent updates of events and press releases. The
site features personal statements from ANC president and
presidential candidate JACOB Zuma, as well as downloadable versions
of the ANC's political platform. It also purports to feature blog
entries from ANC leadership, but only seven entries have been
submitted, with no entries on health, HIV/AIDS, youth or the
economy. ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte stated in a press report:
"Our blog is a natural extension of the active listening, responding
and engagement that the ANC has consistently done throughout its 97
years of existence. We see it as a 'virtual imbizo' [community
meeting]....It's an extension of our engagement with citizens. More
talking. More listening. And most importantly, more conversation."
This policy is not evident on the official website, where the ANC
has offered limited conversation at this level.


4. (U) The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA),has
been the most dynamic player in the online campaign field. In
addition to its official website (http://www.da.org.za/),the DA
also has launched several niche sites, including a voter activism
site (http://contributetochange.org.za) "designed to help deliver
the South African dream to the rainbow people." It provides
guidance for DA recruitment and electioneering, information on local
DA events and groups, canned letters to the press, and tools to
start political blogs. Shortly after the National Prosecuting
Authority dropped corruption charges against the ANC's president,
Jacob Zuma, the DA launched a special website soliciting donations
to revive the legal case at http://realanctoday.wordpress.com. The
DA has also promoted a "stealth marketing campaign" on Facebook, but
it relies primarily on tried-and-true traditional SA campaign models
such as paper canvassing.


5. (U) The Congress of the People (COPE),a break-away faction of
the ANC, has styled itself as a spoiler in this year's elections,
hoping to capture the disaffected urban black ANC voter and white
voters who view a vote for the DA as ineffectual. COPE has been
Qvoters who view a vote for the DA as ineffectual. COPE has been
criticized for failing to establish itself as a viable party and not
running an effective campaign. Its official website
(http://www.congressofthepeople.org.za/) is evidence of this -- an
amateurish-looking site, the COPE official page details insider
infighting and low-level policy squabbles. The COPE Forum
(http://forum.copeconnect.co.za/),the interactive portion of the
COPE official online infrastructure, provides updated news and the
possibility to ask questions of COPE leadership but without a
mechanism to receive responses.


6. (U) Other political parties, including South Africa's third
largest party, the KwaZulu Natal-based Inkatha Freedom Party (23
seats in parliament, http://www.ifp.org.za/) and the United
Democratic Movement (six seats in parliament,
http://www.udm2009elections.co.za/),maintain a professional and
election-targeted online presence. Both sites, as well as the sites
of even smaller parties, such as the Independent Democrats (five
seats in parliament, http://www.id.org.za/) and the African
Christian Democratic Party (four seats in parliament,
http://www.acdp.org.za/index.php?page=home) offer separate sites, or
sub-sites, targeting youth voters (such as the DA's
http://www.youngleaders.org.za/) and issue-specific theses.


7. (U) With very few exceptions, all SA party official sites are
focused on providing canned information, rather than offering an

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interactive forum for voters to ask questions and demand answers. As
Jude Mathurine, new media lecturer at Rhodes University, stated in
an AFP report, "The beauty of online in Obama's model is that his
key advisors and he took the time to engage with users online. Our
leaders do not take the time to join in online chats, encourage
questions and emails to MPs, or even Twitter."

Facebook and Twitter: Reaching New Voters or The Same Old
Supporters?


8. (U) The mainstream parties, the ANC and DA, both have a
significant Facebook presence but at levels that reflect internet
use and saturation in their respective community bases. The DA's
18,000+ membership (similar to COPE's membership) is progressive,
middle class and professional - more likely to have computers at
home and be inclined to join social networking groups. The DA
Facebook page is complex and utilizes every conceivable avenue of
social media: video, webchats, donations and more links to policy
papers than on their static public website. While the public
internet site prominently features and promotes Helen Zille, the DA
leader, the Facebook page represents more of a collective effort, a
movement. Helen Zille is also a frequent Twitter-er, publishing
frank statements about how she views the current state of political
affairs in SA, as well as updates on her speaking engagements and
events.


9. (U) The ANC's 6,700 Facebook members also reflect a level of
national support but perhaps among those without ready internet
access or interest. The ANC page is static: no video, few forums, no
link to 'stealth media campaigns.' The ANC also has over 330
followers on Twitter, but appears to treat Twitter as a press
release feed for the party as it is not focused on elections and has
no other value added.


10. (U) In stark contrast to its 'official' website, COPE has a very
dynamic social media presence, with almost 1,900 discussion topics;
2,000 photos; 20 videos; and a whopping 20,800 members on Facebook.
Interaction between party members and supporters is constant and
colorful in the forums. Forums range from the latest COPE press
release to opinions on the latest episode of South African Idol to
more substantive issues, such as "Topic: I don't hate ZUMA or the
ANC -- I just like COPE!" However, COPE's Twitter feed, with only 31
followers, generally focuses around media events and sees very
little use by the party or its followers.


11. (U) The niche Inkatha Freedom Party only has 169 'members' on
Facebook but also is tied to a number of sub-pages, including
isiZulu language pages. Activity on the site is infrequent, with
fewer than 25 total posts in the forum.

Everyone Has a Mobile Telephone


12. (U) Estimates state that over 90% of South Africa's population
has a mobile telephone, but SA's political parties have not
exploited this technology for the 2009 elections. While press
reports claim "voters can join the UDM via SMS, download an ID
election ring tone, make a mobile donation to COPE, or subscribe to
the ANC's weekly SMS news alerts," (Mail and Guardian, March 2009),
the average voter has no information on how to access this
interactive technology. Of the main political parties, only the ANC
features a prominently displayed application explaining how to
register for mobile updates.


13. (U) A private company has stepped into the arena with a new
platform for mobile telephones for the 2009 elections. Mig33
Qplatform for mobile telephones for the 2009 elections. Mig33
(www.mig33.com) is a mobile application that hosts platforms for
social interactions, chatrooms and now South African political
parties. However, despite media reports, mig33 appears to be an
under-used resource with very little name recognition among South
Africans. Still, the major parties, including the DA, ANC, ID and
UDM, have created open groups in mig33 chat rooms.


14. (SBU) In contrast to the significant role that mobile telephone
technology played in recent elections in Kenya and the Philippines,
it appears that mobile telephone electioneering is only just
beginning in South Africa. According to Consulate Durban poloff
contacts, the DA does plan on sending 1.5 million "get out the vote"
SMSs immediately before election day to motivate both committed
voters and to influence the undecided vote. Reportedly, other
political parties are requesting cell phone numbers from supporters
to communicate directly with them on election day.


15. (U) COMMENT: The 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign
captured the attention and imagination of most South Africans and

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has undoubtedly inspired new media campaign techniques in this South
African election cycle. Despite low internet penetration, the
parties recognize an urgent need to get online in order to at least
keep up the appearance of being modern, tech-savvy and
youth-oriented. While these innovative campaign techniques are
unlikely to have significant impact on the outcome of this election,
they are laying the groundwork for future political movements after
the laying of broadband cable and the 2010 World Cup hopefully
explode the now closely-controlled internet market in South Africa.
END COMMENT.

LA LIME