Ramaphosa rates low on accountability and humanisation on X

Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa having a large following on X, data has revealed that he rated low on accountability and humanisation.

This is according to the 4th annual South African Government Leaders on X report. Ramaphosa recorded the highest engagement. 

“The reason the president has the highest engagement is because of the Monday newsletters and not necessarily because he responds to the people on X. On Mondays, there’s a spike [on his page] because people want to engage with the newsletter,” Lorato Tshenkeng, CEO of Decode Communications said.

“The reason why the president rates low in those two categories is not because of the issues of government but purely on communication. Someone would ask a genuine question but not get a response, which creates one-way communication,” he said.

The findings were presented at a panel discussion hosted by Decode Communications in partnership with Sowetan and Good Governance Africa.

It was held under the topic SA’s Democracy at 30 Years: Prioritising Open Governance for Meaningful Citizen Engagement.

Energy minister Gwede Mantashe, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and sports minister Zizi Kodwa make up the rest of the top five of most followed.

The report also found that even without a presence on X, international relations minister Naledi Pandor recorded the third highest results and engagement.

“The key drivers of this high engagement include the handling of the Russian President’s attendance of the Brics Summit and the Israeli fracas at the African Union Meeting and the Israel-Palestinian war,” the report reads.

A topic that dominated X was energy, with Mantashe, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa being mentioned the most.

The second most dominant topic was crime and safety, with minister Bheki Cele as the key feature.

Panellists included  Tshenkeng, independent socio-economist analyst Khaya Sithole, senior lecturer of strategic communication Dr Karabo Sitto-Kaunda and director of research and programmes at Good Governance Africa Dr Ross Harvey.

Sowetan editor, Nwabisa Makunga was the moderator.

When asked why government leaders may not feel obligated to answer questions or take accountability on social media, Sithole said it could be because they feel that people never have anything good to say.

“They may sit back and think ‘who are they and how do they measure to me?’. The danger with that is that we live in a democracy and no one knows who voted for who, so then they think you do not like their party or the things they do and therefore you are not owed an explanation,” he said.