South Africa’s 2016 municipal elections How the ANC and DA leveraged Twitter to Capture the Urban Vote

This paper focuses on how South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), and main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), leveraged microblogging site Twitter. This was part of their urban election campaign arsenal in the 2016 local government elections (LGE) to promote party-political digital issue ownership within an urban context. Using each party’s corpus of 2016 election-related tweets and election manifestos, this three-phased grounded theory study found that each party used Twitter as a digital political communication platform to communicate their election campaigns. The DA notably leveraged the social networking site more for intense focused messaging of its negative campaign against the ANC while simultaneously promoting positive electoral messages around its own core issues and metro (urban) mayoral candidates. Furthermore, battleground metros were identified, narrow-cast and subsequently audience.segmented by the party in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, Tshwane (in Gauteng) and Nelson Mandela Bay (in the Eastern Cape). This led to an emphasised campaign to either activate the party’s own urban support base and/or to suppress the ANC’s turnout in these highly-contested areas. The results of this study further indicate that the ANC and DA both used Twitter to claim explicit and implicit digital party-political issue ownership in the 2016 LGE.

Biometric technologies and the prospect of sustainable democracy in Africa

The paper interrogates the prospect of attaining sustainable democracy in Africa using biometric technology (BT) for elections. Technology has become relevant in virtually every aspect of human endeavour, including election management and democratic development. In Africa, BT has also been deployed to improve the quality of elections and democracy. Using document analysis and review of relevant literature, findings indicate that to a large extent, BT is charting the path for sustainable democracy in Africa. However, the deployment of BT for African elections still faces serious challenges such as its high cost, inability to address some forms of electoral fraud, and lack of technical know-how. The paper concludes that the cultivation of political will to improve the quality of elections is important in order to address the current challenges of using BT in African elections and increase the prospect of attaining sustainable democracy.

Social media penetration, party politics and elections in Tanzania Emerging practices and challenges

Tanzania has witnessed an increased use of social media in political party campaigning over the last decade. Use of social media was nonetheless curtailed by a changing techno-political framework regulated by acts relating to cybersecurity and statistics. This study was guided by two hypotheses: firstly, that despite restrictive cybersecurity laws, social media in recent years has been effectively institutionalised as a new civic cyberspace for political party campaigns during elections. Secondly, increasing use of social media in elections has had a transformative effect on the way party structure was organised to conduct political mobilisation, promote party ideology and both inter- and intra-party interaction, and for fundraising. The study interviewed party members and leaders from five political parties which participated in the 2015 and 2020 general elections and concluded that social media had a transformative effect on core political party campaign activities.

Collapsing electoral integrity in Mozambique

Excessive secrecy has always compromised the integrity of Mozambique’s elections. The National Elections Commission secretly changes results with no records kept nor any public notice that changes have been made. The official final results of the 2019 elections were changed three times by the Constitutional Council with no comment and identical document numbers. The political parties want a politicised electoral machine with party nominees to all electoral bodies, and integrity has steadily declined. By 2018-9 elections had become dominated by the ruling party, Frelimo, which was able to openly change the outcome of municipal elections and create 329 430 ghost voters in the national elections. Civil society observers had become an important check on elections; but in 2019, independent observation was blocked in several provinces and the head of civil society observation in one province was assassinated by a police hit squad. The judiciary, which ordered a rerun in one town in the 2013 municipal elections, has become politicised and will no longer intervene. This paper is an empirical account of those events.

Elections, Legitimacy, and Democratic Consolidation in Southern Africa Lessons from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi

Regular elections are now the norm across most of sub-Saharan Africa, but repeated elections have not guaranteed the consolidation of democracy. Election legitimacy is crucial for democratisation. When losing political actors and their supporters are not satisfied with the electoral process, there is potential for growing political tensions. Fraudulent or controversial elections fail to confer legitimacy on the winners, and undermine the integrity of elections and democracy. Drawing on Afrobarometer data and media accounts, this paper focuses on the most recent elections held in three southern African countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. We show that when citizens believe that elections were not free and fair, there is a decline in their satisfaction with democracy and the trust they have in institutions such as electoral commissions and courts of law. The absence of political reforms to address disputed election outcomes increases the likelihood that future elections will not be contested fairly. This sets countries on a path of democratic decline rather than consolidation.

Zimbabwe’s 2018 harmonised elections An Assessment of Credibility

This paper assesses the credibility of Zimbabwe’s 2018 harmonised elections using an electoral cycle approach, arguing that the free expression of voters’ choice is a sine qua non for credibility. A study of Election Observer Missions’ reports (EOMs), media reports, and observation in relation to the 2018 elections, points to inadequate legal reforms; questionable independence and impartiality of the Elections Management Body (EMB); media bias; partisan distribution of aid; abuse of state resources; vote buying; partisan involvement of traditional leaders and of the military; intimidation; and suspicious results management. The paper concludes that the 2018 harmonised elections did not pass the credibility test owing to the cumulative effect of structural inadequacies. There is thus a need to comprehensively reform Zimbabwe’s electoral laws, improve elections administration, and ensure a level playing field for contestants by addressing the political environment within which elections are held.

Voting rights of Zimbabweans in the diaspora

The Constitution of Zimbabwe states that citizens who have reached the age of 18 years may vote in local and national elections. However, the Electoral Act states that only Zimbabwean citizens who are on diplomatic missions, civil servants and members of the armed forces on external missions may vote from abroad. This legal requirement effectively disenfranchises millions of Zimbabwean citizens who live and work in other countries. Why the current Zimbabwean authorities do not allow or enable their citizens to vote from abroad in Zimbabwe’s national elections is contentious, especially ahead of the 2023 general elections. This article uses the desktop approach to argue that the right to vote in one’s country of origin by citizens working and living abroad is a barometer of a nation’s deepening democratic practices, of which elections are a lynchpin. This study hopes to contribute to international human rights law. A study of voting from abroad contributes to discussions regarding the evolving and multifaceted relationship between sending states and their diaspora communities.

The impact of cross-boundary electoral demarcation disputes in South Africa after 1994: the case study of Moutse

The article investigates the impact of cross­boundary electoral demarcation disputes between the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces after 1994. The article further examines how the electoral demarcation disputes can be resolved by negotiating with the dissatisfied communities. Moutse is located within a community that straddles north­western Mpumalanga and southern Limpopo provinces in South Africa. In 2005 the community members of Moutse wards 5 and 6 were dissatisfied by the decision of the South African national government, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provincial governments for relocating them under a newly demarcated administrative boundary without hearing the views of the community. The article used community dialogues for its research. This approach is explained predominantly by qualitative and quantitative approaches to indicate processes of data collection, to explain the nature of the problem and explore the findings of communitybased research. The study reveals that violent disruptions and protests by community members can be avoided if community voices are taken into consideration. The article recommends that state institutions that support constitutional democracy need to show the administrative and political will to transform electoral demarcation challenges and implement effective democratic principles. In conclusion, advanced institutional planning and its transparent application must be emphasised.

Succession politics and state administration in Africa: the case of Zimbabwe

The paper is a critical inquiry into the influence of succession politics on state administration in Africa, with particular reference to Zimbabwe, and unpacks the interactive boundaries and conceptual overlaps in this field. This study was based on 18 qualitative in­depth interviews conducted with key informants using the purposive sampling technique, complemented by extensive document review. The findings of the study show that succession politics in Africa includes executive dominance, egocentrism and excessive appointive powers. These are compounded by the lack of an institutional framework of succession, which in turn undermines the professional independence of the bureaucracy and inhibits the pursuit of comprehensive governance. The findings also isolate Zimbabwe as a victim of political, societal and historical factors that exacerbate the succession dilemma. In its recommendations, the paper argues that the succession challenge faced by the continent, in particular Zimbabwe, will continue to hound succession trends and responsive administration unless broad­based reforms are instituted to dismantle the historical legacies embedded in the political systems.

The challenges and opportunities of Web 2.0 elections: the case of Zimbabwe

This study analyses different perspectives of the challenges and opportunities of using Web 2.0 technology with specific reference to Zimbabwe’s 2018 general elections. It discusses digital tools and resources such as social networking sites (SNSs) and biometric voter registration (BVR) for the management of the voters’ roll. The study includes in­depth interviews with several politicians and ZEC officials to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Web 2.0 in Zimbabwe’s elections. Informed by theoretical concepts on technology and politics, the study establishes that technology is not a panacea but can be used as an apparatus. This study concludes that political institutions in Zimbabwe should reach consensus that the country will not conduct another election until electoral reforms are implemented because technology alone cannot overcome political challenges. Thus, the election monitoring body should be sufficiently credible to ensure a free and fair election.