Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa

This article investigates how South African political parties’ communication strategies influence voters’ decision-making. The study sought to understand the effects and influences of political communication approaches on voters’ decision-making processes. The election periods used for the analysis...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Trevor Hlungwani, Siyasanga Tyali
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2024-12-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/2625
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832593860072570880
author Trevor Hlungwani
Siyasanga Tyali
author_facet Trevor Hlungwani
Siyasanga Tyali
author_sort Trevor Hlungwani
collection DOAJ
description This article investigates how South African political parties’ communication strategies influence voters’ decision-making. The study sought to understand the effects and influences of political communication approaches on voters’ decision-making processes. The election periods used for the analysis are the 1999 to 2019 general elections. The focus area of the study was Diepsloot, a densely populated township in the north of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa. Furthermore, the researchers also assessed whether Diepsloot residents understood political communication, especially during an election period. The research focused on the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). These parties were the top three when it came to electoral support in South Africa when this study was carried out. Data were gathered using open-ended telephonic interviews with voters in Diepsloot. While the study found that political communication affected a voter’s choice, it also revealed that a voter’s attitude towards these political communication interventions was one of caution. The article concludes that political communication is one of many discernible variables influencing voters when voting for a political party.
format Article
id doaj-art-5b8337377d2f4eb986ebf645adda8b7b
institution Kabale University
issn 0259-0069
2957-7950
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher University of Johannesburg
record_format Article
series Communicare
spelling doaj-art-5b8337377d2f4eb986ebf645adda8b7b2025-01-20T08:39:39ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502024-12-0143210.36615/etejgc56Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South AfricaTrevor Hlungwani0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8366-546XSiyasanga Tyali1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5365-6896UNISAUNISA This article investigates how South African political parties’ communication strategies influence voters’ decision-making. The study sought to understand the effects and influences of political communication approaches on voters’ decision-making processes. The election periods used for the analysis are the 1999 to 2019 general elections. The focus area of the study was Diepsloot, a densely populated township in the north of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa. Furthermore, the researchers also assessed whether Diepsloot residents understood political communication, especially during an election period. The research focused on the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). These parties were the top three when it came to electoral support in South Africa when this study was carried out. Data were gathered using open-ended telephonic interviews with voters in Diepsloot. While the study found that political communication affected a voter’s choice, it also revealed that a voter’s attitude towards these political communication interventions was one of caution. The article concludes that political communication is one of many discernible variables influencing voters when voting for a political party. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/2625ANCDADiepslootEFFGautengpolitical communication
spellingShingle Trevor Hlungwani
Siyasanga Tyali
Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa
Communicare
ANC
DA
Diepsloot
EFF
Gauteng
political communication
title Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa
title_full Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa
title_fullStr Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa
title_short Voters’ attitudes towards political parties’ communication: the case of Diepsloot voters in Gauteng, South Africa
title_sort voters attitudes towards political parties communication the case of diepsloot voters in gauteng south africa
topic ANC
DA
Diepsloot
EFF
Gauteng
political communication
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/2625
work_keys_str_mv AT trevorhlungwani votersattitudestowardspoliticalpartiescommunicationthecaseofdiepslootvotersingautengsouthafrica
AT siyasangatyali votersattitudestowardspoliticalpartiescommunicationthecaseofdiepslootvotersingautengsouthafrica