Faking it: SA politicians on Twitter
While South African political parties and their leaders gather Twitter followers by the thousand, they may be shouting into an empty room.
From established “tweeters” like Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille, to new parties such as the Julius Malema-led Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) garnering support – politicians from all sides of the South African political spectrum are finding a voice online.
But while these groups and individuals have gathered followers in the tens of thousands, a suprising amount of digital “supporters” aren’t actually around to hear their message – or may not be not real at all.
Online social media management tool, Status People, tracks fake, inactive and “real” Twitter accounts from a sample of up to 1,000 followers. For accounts with around 50,000 followers, the site claims to provide “very accurate” insight into the legitimacy of accounts following them.
According to the site, spam accounts tend to have few or no followers and few or no tweets – but tend to follow a lot of other accounts.
“It’s important for you to be sure when you communicate on Twitter that you are communicating with real and active followers,” Status People says on its site. “The more active your follower base the more likely they are to share your content.”
When looking at South Africa’s political parties on Twitter, the ruling party, the ANC, also rules the roost in terms of followers on its official accounts – as well as the percentage of fake followers.
South African political fakers
| Party (official accounts) |
Followers | Fakes |
| ANC | 64,476 | 31% |
| Democratic Alliance | 31,981 | 21% |
| Agang | 29,803 | 13% |
| Economic Freedom Fighters | 18,576 | 10% |
ANC – @MyANC_
ANC – Fakes
While the ANC’s official Twitter account has the highest number of followers out of the political parties measured, it also has the lowest amount of active users and highest amount of fake users.
ANC leader and South African President Jacob Zuma, tweeting under the handle @SAPresident, has amassed 265,026 followers – of which 38% are fake, 38% inactive and 24% considered good.
Democratic Alliance – @DA_News
DA – Fakes
The DA’s official Twitter account (@DA_News) has amassed close to 32,000 followers – however, only 41% of those are considered “good”.
DA party leader, Helen Zille has become the party’s go-to account for Twitter users who wish to interact with the DA, which has lead to her Twitter account, @helenzille, amassing 303,471 followers.
Of that amount, however, 38% are considered fake accounts, 33% inactive and 29% good.
Agang – @AgangSA
Agang – Fakes
Agang – a new political party headed by Mamphela Ramphele which launched in February 2013 – gained a lot of traction on social media at its launch. While the party has amassed close to 30,000 followers, 13% are considered fake.
However, the party’s official Twitter account has the highest rate (49%) of good, or active, followers.
Agang leader, Mamphela Ramphele has gained 20,062 followers to her personal account, @MamphelaR. At least 50% of Ramphele’s followers are considered “good”, while 37% are inactive and 13% fake.
Economic Freedom Fighters – @EconFreedomZA
EFF – Fakes
The latest political party to join the social Twitter wave is the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, headed by ousted former ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema, and controversial businessman and socialite, Kenny Kunene.
The party has gained traction on Twitter, garnering over 18,500 followers in a short few weeks – however, according to Status People, 10% of the supporters are fake and 44% are inactive.
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