South Africa’s Ruling Party #ProudlyBroughtByANC Campaign Flops · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA), erected a billboard last week in Johannesburg, South Africa to poke fun at ruling African National Congress’ electronic tolling system. The billboard reads: “E-tolls. Proudly brought to you by the ANC [African National Congress].”
Jacob Zuma, the head of ANC and South Africa's president. Photo released under Creative Commons by Wikipedia user Dewet/GCIS.
Electronic Toll (e-toll) is a cashless payment system for road operators to pay toll fees. The ruling party pushed for it earlier this year despite public outcry, legal challenges and protests. It is the first open road tolling system in South Africa.
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_) reacted to the advert by starting a campaign against the DA on Twitter using the hashtag #ProudlyBroughtByANC. He wrote:
The constitutional right of all parties to campaign freely without any fear of arrest #ProudlyBroughtByANC
— Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_) October 7, 2013
Removal of all discrimination and segregation laws from SA landscape #ProudlyBroughtByANC
— Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_) October 7, 2013
But the ANC campaign backfired as Twitter users used the same hashtag to show corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement on part of the ANC government.
SDH (@Coach_Hearn) pointed out to corruption in government procurement:
#ProudlyBroughtByANC South Africa loses R30-billion [approximately 3 trillion US dollars] of the annual government procurement budget to tender corruption
— SDH (@Coach_Hearn) October 16, 2013
Sentletse (@Sentletse) used the the Traditional Courts Bill to show what is wrong with the ruling party:
Banna! The Traditional Courts Bill allows traditional leaders to sentence the accused to ‘hard labour’. #ProudlyBroughtByANC
— Sentletse (@Sentletse) October 15, 2013
The Traditional Courts Bill , which was first introduced in 2008, has been rejected by most provinces in South Africa. Legal experts and rural activists argue that the proposed law creates a separate, second-class justice system for rural communities, where women have fewer rights
Jessinsight (@Jessinsight) shared a photo showing members of the South African parliament, which is dominated by the ANC, sleeping while the House in session:
This is too much!!! #ProudlyBroughtByANC pic.twitter.com/0JxcqLN3ZI
— Jessinsight (@Jessinsight) October 8, 2013
Marketing technologist Rafiq Phillips (@rafiq) complained about the banning of open-source software in government schools. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has announced that it will phase out the use of open-source software for information technology curriculum:
South Africa Education Department bans Open Source Software! WTF? http://t.co/CUKLp3BU9U #ProudlyBroughtByANC
— Rafiq Phillips (@rafiq) October 9, 2013
Pieter van Dalen MP (@PietervanDalen), a member of parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance, used a photo of a dilapidated building with an ANC flag to represent the extent of rot in the party:
This photo is good example of the present state of the #ANC not only in Western Cape. #ProudlyBroughtByANC @Gouda pic.twitter.com/t8Eh0PmM08
— Pieter van Dalen MP (@PietervanDalen) October 9, 2013
Sentletse (@Sentletse) reported:
South Africa is among African countries with medium human development, ranked below dysfunctional Libya. #ProudlyBroughtByANC
— Sentletse (@Sentletse) October 9, 2013
Flower Child♡ (@Miss_Tshiff) posted a photo of council workers erecting a street sign and jokingly asked:
How many municipal workers does it take to erect a new street sign? #OnlyInSA #ProudlyBroughtByANC pic.twitter.com/M1YRsu1ilm“
— Flower Child♡ (@Miss_Tshiff) October 8, 2013
By the time of writing this post, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_) had not responded to any of the tweets under the hashtag #ProudlyBroughtByANC.