The 2016 local municipal election was fought as much at the ballot box as it was through social media\u2026and political parties should have paid closer attention to the conversation by ordinary voters in the digital space.<\/p>\n
This is according to political analyst, Stef Terblanche, who said that many early warnings were missed by the ANC in the build up to their worst ever election campaign. “Perhaps the party could have stemmed the haemorrhage timeously had it heeded the voices on Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms,” the analyst said.<\/p>\n
Final results showed a dramatic shift away from the ANC in almost all the key metros and in many smaller municipalities. Unless it can forge coalition governments with other parties, the ANC will lose control of some key metros, Terblanche said.<\/p>\n
BrandsEye, a media analytics company, said that while political parties did make use of social media in their campaigns, they could have mined the data more effectively to better assess what ordinary voters were thinking and saying.<\/p>\n
By doing so, they might have been able to act pre-emptively to arrest negative trends. Instead, political leaders spent more time attacking each other on Twitter and Facebook, it said.<\/p>\n
Accurate predictions<\/strong><\/p>\n BrandsEye said that data captured and analysed on social media in the weeks before the election showed that no party would be able to breach the 50% ceiling in any of the three most contested metros \u2013 Nelson Mandela Bay, Tshwane and Johannesburg.<\/p>\n A great deal of positive comments aimed at the DA, revolved around its successful governance of Cape Town and the Western Cape, and the voters rewarded the DA accordingly.<\/p>\n In places where it was already governing, like Midvaal and Cape Town, the DA\u2019s majority increased. And in other regions where much of the conversation was about the DA\u2019s Western Cape track record, the DA received a significant boost from voters.<\/p>\n BrandsEye said that wherever significant mention was made about corruption in government on social media of, the ANC lost support.<\/p>\n National vs local issues<\/strong><\/p>\n The research found that in all contested metros, positive sentiment focused more on the micro-level of ward, district, local or provincial governance, while negative sentiment focused on macro or national-level issues concerning the parties.<\/p>\n For the ANC the writing was on the wall, according to Terblanche. National issues that have long stared it in the face, such as corruption and the controversies surrounding president Jacob Zuma, raised the negative sentiment around the ANC.<\/p>\n “For the DA this means there is now considerable pressure on it to deliver and satisfy expectations at ward, local and provincial level in order to retain its newly-won dominance in many urban areas,” Terblanche said.<\/p>\n What people said Broken down into the most contested metros, the message was all too familiar.<\/p>\n In the case of the DA and EFF, positive sentiment towards both in Nelson Mandela Bay Metro hinged on expectations of job creation.<\/p>\n “This offers the two parties a key opportunity to find common ground if they decide to work together and form a coalition, rather than focusing on their differences,” Terblanche said.<\/p>\n The conversations and sentiments in Johannesburg and Tshwane focused much on similar issues. BrandsEye said that across the three metros the following issues stood out:<\/p>\n “The strong positive emphasis on the DA\u2019s Western Cape track record in all three metros, and the equally strong rejection of corruption, goes to show that only good governance and sound delivery impresses ordinary citizens. Political parties will have to heed this dictum or face losing power,” Terblanche said.<\/p>\n For politicians the issues should be clear: end corruption; stop racism; create jobs; and speed up delivery, the analyst said.<\/p>\n People of South Africa the real victors \u2013 Zuma<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
More on South Africa<\/h3>\n