The upcoming elections will be a social media dress rehearsal for 2019, when political parties' first point of attack will be through the Internet. Those that are not gearing up now will lose out.
As the country's political machinery gathers pace for elections in the next few months, those contesting the battle are stepping up their online presence and have plans to invest more in social media for 2019.
Just last month, the African National Congress (ANC) unveiled a national Mxit application, following a launch for the Western Cape region in May, and this has already racked up more than 400 000 followers. The party - SA's largest - joins the Democratic Alliance and Agang SA in establishing a Mxit presence.
Staying in touch
ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu says the party has a team managing its online presence in the build up to elections. He notes the party expects the online presence to make a difference in ensuring voters and the general public remains connected with developments.
The party's social media presence runs under the "MyANC" banner and incorporates Facebook, Twitter, picture-sharing platform Flickr, and Mxit.
The MyANC Facebook page has 44 235 likes, while the Twitter equivalent has accumulated more than 96 300 followers. Its current Mxit subscriber numbers are unclear. The social media strategy sees the party share its event coverage, South African history, some of its press releases, and speeches from a few members of its executive.
The ruling party received 11.65 million votes in the 2009 general elections and its current Facebook and Twitter following equates to 1.2% of its support at the previous polls.
Online democracy
Freedom Front Plus (FF+) Parliamentary spokesman Anton Alberts says the party is running a strong campaign through social media, and is also making use of a database it has built up via online campaigns - such as the one against e-tolling in Gauteng.
Using social media allows the party to speak directly to its constituency, says Alberts. "That is a very empowering tool."
The party has around 12 429 Facebook "likes" and 3 679 Twitter followers but, apart from its youth arm, does not have a Mxit presence, says Alberts. He says the party is trying to grow its social media following.
The FF+ uses social media to deal with queries, post statements and also disseminate some humour, says Alberts. He admits, however, that the party is not doing much differently when compared with other political parties.
Alberts says its Facebook presence draws people from all corners of life, but notes its followers are likely to be more affluent. He adds, however, that mobile devices are deepening penetration of social media, and the party even has pensioners following it. "The Internet has become more democratic."
The party received 146 796 votes in the previous general elections, making its social media following small by comparison. Alberts says many of its voters are not really social media-oriented and prefer to interact via e-mail and it is difficult to find a correlation between future votes and an online presence.
However, Alberts expects this to change for the 2019 elections, and says both Twitter and Facebook will play a bigger role in five years' time. He says social media may be the tool of preference in 2019 as more smartphones will deepen access to the Internet.
The Democratic Alliance's social media manager, Alex Molteno, says the party is engaging online and growing fast. He notes more people have feature phones than computers in SA, which is why the party's Mxit base is larger than its other social media presences.
The DA has 57 471 Facebook fans, 58 300 Twitter followers, and 198 413 Mxit subscribers. As a percentage of its votes in the last general elections, its Facebook and Twitter following is 3.9%.
Molteno says the party maximises any platform it can to get its message across and using the Internet is logical. He says social media is a great way to reach out and engage with people the party has not previously spoken with.
Inkatha Freedom Party MP Sibongile Nkomo says the party's use of social media was informed by the growing number of politicians online, such as US president Barack Obama.
Nkomo says the party has a dedicated team to handle social media and aims to grow it as the tool will play a bigger part in the next elections. The IFP's Twitter and Facebook following, as a percentage of votes in the last previous election, is 0.009%.
Act now
Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, says by 2019, it is almost guaranteed that elections will be fought through social media as a first priority, although the medium will not replace traditional campaigns through television, radio, posters and billboards.
By 2019, most voters will be using social media, Goldstuck adds. He says 12.2 million adults currently access the Internet on their phones and 41 million people have mobile phones in SA.
By the time the next elections roll around, all voters will be using social media and will be well versed in the applications, says Goldstuck. He points out that more than half of all registered voters have Internet on their phones, and more than half of those who voted in 2009 use Facebook.
Goldstuck points out that one in five South Africans are on Facebook, a number he says is "astonishing". In addition, more than 5.5 million South Africans use Twitter, and there are 6.5 million monthly active Mxit accounts.
By 2019, it would be safe to assume that anyone who votes will also access the Internet via a phone, says Goldstuck. "You ignore social media at your peril as a political party."
Goldstuck says social media is integral to any marketing campaign, but it can take a while to effectively master its use. He notes there is a belief that the Internet is the province of the privileged, which could hold back some parties from engaging in social media.
"The parties need to use all these platforms as a dress rehearsal for 2019."
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