South Africa: How Alleged Ret 'Guptabots' Migrated Overnight to Zuma's Mk Party

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Former president Jacob Zuma.
17 May 2024
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
analysis By Suné Payne

A report by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change has described how the online RET community deserted the EFF and migrated en masse to the MK party.

The uMkhonto Wesizwe (MK ) party has garnered online support from the Radical Economic Transformation (RET) community, which took over from the infamous Guptabots.

This is according to a report by the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC), released on Friday, 17 May.

MK was formally launched in December 2023 and its face is former president Jacob Zuma.

According to the report, the popularity of the MK party was detected by researchers at the CABC who track instances of online manipulation, as usage of MK party-specific hashtags appeared in large volumes overnight.

This led to questions about how a newly formed political party gained popularity "so quickly" when little canvassing had been done between its formation and the rise in the hashtag trends. Another question was about the authenticity of the rise of the party's online presence.

By examining different online communities over different periods, the CABC found community links back to anti-Ramaphosa social media communities on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The report showed how the RET forces, which took over from the Guptabots -- led by anonymous accounts -- showed a level of support for the Economic Freedom Fighters before the launch of MK.

"At this...

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