It seems most of the public chose to follow the EFF’s lead in boycotting the Presidential Q&A, which on its own recorded a dismal amount of mentions over the past 7 days. The Net sentiment towards the session was an appalling -74,7% with almost a quarter of total sentiment being negative. The ANC’s X (Twitter) page drove over a third of the engagement, followed by the TimesLIVE Facebook page with a live stream of the proceedings. By contrast, the EFF boycott of the event drew 350 mentions and 1.3K engagements by 336 unique authors.
‣ Presidency and Government Accountability: President Cyril Ramaphosa, answering MPs’ questions in parliament, discussed the development of the 2019 Manifesto through a Q&A session and engaged with editors, senior correspondents, academics, and analysts. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) boycotted the Q&A session due to their dissatisfaction with the President’s leadership and allegations of mediocrity within his cabinet.
‣ Parliamentary Proceeding’s Coverage showed Members of Parliament arriving at the Good Hope Chamber and there were mentions of Section 92(2) of the Constitution stipulated that Members of the Executive are accountable to Parliament.
‣ International Relations and Diplomacy focused on the BRICS summit and its potential benefits for South Africa, yet, the President sidestepped questions about Zimbabwe’s elections. Opposition leader, John Steenhuisen raised concerns about gender inequality among the new BRICS members Saudi Arabia and Iran.
‣ The President briefly addressed questions regarding Lifestyle Audits of Members of the Executive and Public Representatives and provided some clarity on policies supporting the devolution of passenger rail to competent metros.
‣ Social Media Reactions and Public Opinion included X (Twitter) users who expressed their opinions on the events and issues discussed during the Q&A session and called for transparency and accountability in government, particularly regarding lifestyle audits and Phala Phala Farmgate. Is this the death knell of the ANC?
