Ido Lekota

Ido Lekota

The ANC is launching a multi-million-rand TV ad campaign aimed at attracting voters in the forthcoming elections.

The advertorial campaign is produced by Ogilvy Public Relations and is estimated to cost R3million. The adverts are to be flighted on both SABC and e.tv. The first advert is to be flighted today on SABC1 at 9pm.

ANC spokesperson Jessie Duarte said yesterday the campaign was expected to be watched by between "20 and 23million viewers" a day.

The people appearing in the adverts are drawn from Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Gauteng and North West.

Interestingly, these are the provinces where the ANC is expected to face serious challenges from the Congress of the People.

Duarte said the ads were "not directed" at the provinces in which they will be aired but were "issue driven".

Commenting on the ANC's choice of provinces, Ogilvy's chief executive officer in Johannesburg, Nunu Ntshingila, said it would have been "too costly" to source people from all of South Africa's provinces.

Duarte said the political ad campaign was aimed at all South Africans, particularly rural South Africans who should vote for the party "to improve the quality of their lives".

She said the content of the adverts included "the successes the ANC had achieved in the past 15 years" - it's failures and challenges, as well as on plans how to bring qualitative change to people's lives.

"The people in the adverts are not coached to talk about ANC successes. The adverts are about people who have seen their lives improving."

For its part, the Democratic Alliance is to launch its TV campaign on Monday. The ads will run on all SABC channels and on e.tv.

"The message is an empowering one, making the point to voters that they have the power to change South Africa and make the South African dream a reality," said a DA statement.