ELECTIONS ONLINE OP-ED: A White Cross surge, GNU partners trade blows — the week in SA’s online politics
Five weeks before the 4 November local elections, a burst of Afrikaner rural safety activism around a Washington memorial briefly pushed anti-immigrant campaigners off the top of South Africa’s political conversations. Inside the Government of National Unity, partners spent the week campaigning against one another.
Five weeks before South Africa's local elections on 4 November, online political conversations were dominated by Afrikaner rural safety activism. This surge, fueled by the White Cross Project, briefly overshadowed anti-immigrant campaigners on social media.
The White Cross Project, centered around Ernst Roets's Lex Libertas organization and AfriForum leader Kallie Kriel, generated nearly a quarter of all posts on X (Twitter), despite making up only 13% of accounts. This event-driven surge faded in the following days, indicating passionate activism rather than manufactured reach.
The anti-immigrant community, led by Jacinta Ngobese, accounted for 15% of posts on X, with three times the average "buzzer score" of the Afrikaner activist community. Over the week, the EFF and MK party supporters also made their presence known on X, with about 14% and 7% of posts respectively.
Inside the Government of National Unity (GNU), the ANC and GNU community was primarily focused on criticism of the government, while the DA's campaign trail was marked by accusations of ANC lies and comparisons of the DA's spending to ANC corruption.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
