RANJENI MUNUSAMY: Brace yourself for a dirty election
'We must not be caught off-guard on the weaponisation of data and employment of dark arts to create unthinkable election outcomes'
With the wheels already turning towards South Africa's sixth democratic general election, we need to be wary of manipulative tactics and the dark arts shaping the national discourse and altering voter sentiment. The Gupta-Bell Pottinger project, which radicalised debate and heightened racial tensions, exposed how vulnerable our society is to manipulation because of inequalities and systemic problems. Over the past few weeks, the issue of land expropriation without compensation has already sent us down the rabbit hole. When parliament considers a constitutional amendment as a means to fast-track land redistribution, it remains to be seen whether our society will be able to deal with the issue rationally or whether things will spiral out of control.Our elections so far have not really been defined by bread and butter issues - liberation-era loyalties, personality politics and the ANC's leadership problems have been major influences on how people have voted. But we now have a more enga...
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