Democracy Reports

Ahead of South Africa’s 4 November 2026 local government elections, the Centre for Analytics & Behavioural Change (CABC)’s first High-Risk Events factsheet documented allegations of electoral manipulation, claims that political parties were using foreign nationals to gain votes, and calls to confront people perceived as ineligible at polling stations Read full report

On the 4th Day of November 2026, South Africans will head to the polls to elect their local government representatives. Social media has become an important arena for political contestation, electoral mobilisation and the circulation of harmful media around the electoral processes. Read full report

This factsheet examines how Gauteng’s water crisis has become a political flashpoint ahead of the 2026 local government elections. Analysing social media reactions to Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s “hotel shower” remark, it explores how public outrage, opposition messaging and online amplification are shaping service delivery narratives and electoral discourse. Read full report

South Africa made history by hosting the 2025 G20 Summit, marking the first time the event took place on African soil. Under its G20 Presidency, South Africa adopted the theme “Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability,” with key priorities focused on promoting development, Read full report

This factsheet provides a summary of the CABC’s analysis of the online conversation about land expropriation in South Africa on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. Information contained in this factsheet is derived from our ‘Online conversation about the Expropriation Act’ report released on 14 February.   Read full report

This report unpacks the online conversation about land expropriation in South Africa on X (formerly twitter) and TikTok. Focus areas include the narratives for and against expropriation and the misinformation used to justify certain viewpoints. The report divides authors within the conversation into two categories, those contributing a high number of mentions predominantly through reposts,

The 10th bi-weekly electoral factsheet identified nearly 800,000 mentions related to the post electoral period in South Africa. Analysing the discussion between 1 and 18 June 2024, the most prominent topics include: Allegations of the election results being fraudulent, conversation and concern around the formation of a Government of National Unity, and the emergence of

Conversation around the national election garnered over a million online mentions from May 24 to 31, 2024. This fact sheet seeks to identify hot-button topics which emerged over week of the election. Topics include issues of voter education, disruptions to the voting process, shared reflection on the experience of voting and instances of mis- and

As researchers throughout Africa seek to understand the social media landscape better, many have focused on Russian interference on social media platforms. The Institute for Security Studies reported ahead of the 2024 elections that due to the weak checks and balances of new democracies on the continent, Russia considers Africa to be an attractive target…