Celebrity cheerleaders

AS election day draws closer, more and more celebrities are cheering publicly for their favourite political parties.

Daily, Twitter's timeline is filled with promotional speech of which party is the best, who should vote for whom and, more tellingly, why they (the celebs) will be voting for their chosen party.

So what's with this surge of celebrity cheerleaders for political parties?

Brand strategist Sylvester Chauke reckons the answer is twofold: on the one hand it could be that the celeb is paid to broadcast their "allegiance" or they are actually expressing genuine support.

"In the branding industry there's a saying, the proof is in the cash register," Chauke says.

"There are people who are associated with political parties because there's a strong commercial reason, and then there are those who are authentic supporters. Those are very few."

The twitteratti has been bombarded by radio personality Lupi Ngcayisa encouraging his followers to support his beloved ANC. This incessant noise has not gone down well with some people. One example is another radio personality, Kgomotso "KG" Moeketsi, who tweeted Ngcayisa about overbearing and excessive posts. One of Ngcayisa's many tweets read: "If you are under 35, take better care of yourself. Eat well, study, read books, exercise regularly and vote ANC."

Ngcayisa says he finds it ridiculous that he can't publicly voice his political preference when he lives in a democratic nation.

"I find it quite amusing and comical that in the 20th year of our hard-earned democracy one cannot articulate themselves politically without the fear of being judged, or in my case being labeled as an attention seeker."

This week, tweleb Khaya Dlanga penned a column titled "I criticise the ANC, but I'll vote for it" for the M&G Online. In his piece, Dlanga states reasons such as affirmative action and him being witness to service delivery in the village where he grew up. This inevitably also got Twitter buzzing with comments of those either agreeing with him or irritated by his column. One such tweet reads "@JacquesR: If you ignore the non sequitur sentence & much post hoc reasoning, this Dlanga column will resonate with many." Another read "@DaBrownNative: I am not unaware of the hypocrisy of my decision that's where I end." And still yet another, "@Joza: I'm annoyed by this hype created around people writing columns declaring who they'll vote for. So what?"

Chauke says Dlanga's column is one that falls in between the two polarities, the financial gain element and the other being expressive. "Some people just want to create drama and they just want attention to get it. Khaya Dlanga is in the advertising industry so he knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote that, just like Arthur Mafokate knows what he's doing."

Mafokate and his protege Chomee have long been performing at ANC major events and Mafokate has not been shy to express his support for the ruling party.

Political analyst Prince Mashale says this endorsement by celebrities is a good thing for our political climate.

"It shows that our democracy is maturing. In the US and the UK, it is very prevalent. That we're witnessing it in SA means that we're maturing." tlhoaeleb@sundayworld.co.za