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 [2]. It is the first open road tolling system in South Africa.
ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_ [3]) reacted to the advert by starting a campaign [4]against the DA on Twitter using the hashtag #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5]. He wrote:
The constitutional right of all parties to campaign freely without any fear of arrest #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5]
— Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_) October 7, 2013 [6]
Removal of all discrimination and segregation laws from SA landscape #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5]
— Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_) October 7, 2013 [7]
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 [8]) pointed out to corruption in government procurement:
#ProudlyBroughtByANC [5] 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 [9]
Sentletse (@Sentletse [10]) 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 [5]
— Sentletse (@Sentletse) October 15, 2013 [11]
The Traditional Courts Bill , which was first introduced in 2008, has been rejected [12] by most provinces in South Africa. Legal experts and rural activists argue that [13] the proposed law creates a separate, second-class justice system for rural communities, where women have fewer rights
Jessinsight (@Jessinsight [14]) 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 [5] pic.twitter.com/0JxcqLN3ZI [15]
— Jessinsight (@Jessinsight) October 8, 2013 [16]
Marketing technologist Rafiq Phillips (@rafiq [17]) complained about the banning of open-source software in government schools. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has announced [18] 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 [19] #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5]
— Rafiq Phillips (@rafiq) October 9, 2013 [20]
Pieter van Dalen MP (@PietervanDalen [21]), 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 [22] not only in Western Cape. #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5] @Gouda [23] pic.twitter.com/t8Eh0PmM08 [24]
— Pieter van Dalen MP (@PietervanDalen) October 9, 2013 [25]
Sentletse (@Sentletse [10]) reported:
South Africa is among African countries with medium human development, ranked below dysfunctional Libya. #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5]
— Sentletse (@Sentletse) October 9, 2013 [26]
Flower Child♡ (@Miss_Tshiff [27]) 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 [28] #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5] pic.twitter.com/M1YRsu1ilm [29]“
— Flower Child♡ (@Miss_Tshiff) October 8, 2013 [30]
By the time of writing this post, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu (@JacksonMthembu_ [3]) had not responded to any of the tweets under the hashtag #ProudlyBroughtByANC [5].