South Africa’s 24-hour trend report – 26 May 2020

May 26 Volume by Province

By Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change

27 May 2020

This is a summary of the trending, highest impact, and most active themes and their narratives related to social cohesion and division in South African public-domain social media conversations on 26 May 2020.

Praying Together

Conversations on news and social media focused on the announcement of restrictions for religious gatherings under Level 3 of the lockdown, the day’s top trending topic by burst and volume.

Late on Monday night Politicsweb posted a call by President Cyril Ramaphosa for a day of prayer and meditation on 31 May. At 19:00 on Tuesday, the President announced that at Level 3, religious gatherings of no more than 50 people would be allowed, leading to a spike in conversation at 20:00.

@ThembiMrototo helped to drive the conversation about easing restrictions on congregational worship: the post was retweeted more than 180 times and received a few hundred likes by Wednesday morning. #churchisessential trended strongly towards the end of the day.

Conversation about religious gatherings resuming raised questions about which restrictions would be eased next.

At 19:59 @TomEatonSA tweeted: “Just so I’m clear: at Level 3, we *will* be able to go into a church with 49 people we don't know and whose personal discipline around Covid hygiene is unknown to us, but we *won't* be able to visit the homes of friends or family?” This post had already been retweeted over 1,000 times with close to 3,000 likes by Wednesday morning.

The EFF’s @MbuyiseniNdlozi, who became very vocal against the move to Level 3 last week, asked: “What’s next? If you say churches must open, what grounds do you have to deny these other spaces to also open?” This tweet was retweeted 1,000 times and had close to 5,000 likes by Wednesday morning. One responder commented that it was easier to control 50 people in a restaurant than in a church, so we should be allowed to open everything.

At 20:48 @SayEntrepreneur tweeted @CyrilRamaphosa to cancel the lockdown, asking why churches were being prioritised over other gatherings.

The spike in conversations during the President's address.

Impact on Economy

As South Africa heads towards its third month in lockdown, many are questioning the devastating impact on jobs and the economy.

The eighth top topic by volume was “flatten the curve”, driven by the Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize’s tweet about how the lockdown had helped in the battle against Covid-19. In a series of tweets, he said the lockdown had helped to flatten the curve and gave the country time to prepare health services. This tweet received nearly 7,500 likes, retweets and comments by Wednesday morning. Mkhize also posted an infographic video explaining how the lockdown had helped the nation – it was viewed over 25,000 times. In a news story that received significant social media traction, Mkhize warned that hotspots could remain at Level 4, driving volume on Tuesday afternoon, making“Level 4” a top topic.

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs also featured in top posts by reach and impact for the day after addressing the impact the lockdown has had on the economy. Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma told the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday that unemployment would increase to 50% due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A Team24 post about the NCOP presentation was the ninth top post by impact for the day.

A tweet by @Gene72214395 stirred up social media users, saying Dlamini Zuma “blamed it [unemployment] in[sic] the downgrade. She blamed it on Covid. Everyone else was blamed except her ex-husband. Who in the past allowed some Indians to take the Country’s money#Guptas”. The tweet received over 1,000 likes, retweets and comments, mostly against the “blame game”.

Volume by gender for the day.

Fallen Fighter

Sympathy for people who have died while trying to help others to fight the Covid-19 pandemic has been an ongoing theme in social media conversation.

A member of the airlift crew who helped to repatriate South Africans from Wuhan, China, has died - from cancer. Tebatso Ntshane was a 39-year-old flight attendant on the first plane to bring stranded South Africans home. Tributes and condolences have poured in, with news of her death trending on Twitter. @KhayaJames tweet was retweeted 334 times and liked over 1,800 times. A @SAFMnews tweet was retweeted more than 650 times.

May 26 Volume by Province

Anti-booze

Panyaza Lesufi is the MEC for Education and Youth Development in the Gauteng Province. He tweeted: “I differ, strongly so, on the use and sale of alcohol. I’ve stated this view before. This drug is costly, ruthless and should be defeated. It has no value in building a healthy society. My teachings are clear, protect the weak, the poor, vulnerable and fight racism at all times.” His tweet received over 7,900 likes, was retweeted 1,600 times and had 926 comments.

Most responses supported his view, but some pointed out that the consumption of alcohol was a personal choice in a democratic society. DM

The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) is a non-profit organisation based at UCTs Graduate School of Business and incubated by the Allan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership.

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