Elections 2024: AKA and 4 More Celebrities Who Were Vocal About Their Political Party Pals
- Celebrities are once again speaking up about the politics of the country as election season approaches
- Many local celebrities have endorsed their favourite parties to mixed reactions from fans
- Seasoned journalist and content producer, Israel Eferobor, spoke to Briefly News about the influence of celebrity endorsements and their impact on the image of the celebrity
- Legit Media PR manager, Tetiana Chmykh, also weighed in on the impact political party endorsements have on celebrity brands
Source: Getty Images
As we approach election season, we are seeing an increased presence of political parties as they try to convince us to vote for them. In the same breath, we are also seeing some of our favourite celebrities throwing on political regalia and pushing their fans to vote for the political parties they are endorsing.
Briefly News takes a look at who the stars are backing in the upcoming 2024 elections.
1. AKA
Even though the rapper tragically passed away, he was known to openly back the ANC and was a big fan of former President Jacob Zuma. AKA was vocal about how he believed that Zuma was "the swaggiest president we have ever had," much to his fans’ amusement.
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No stranger to controversy, AKA was often seen blasting the current administration and often saying that he missed President Zuma. It is for this reason that many of his fans believe that he would have likely backed the MK Party if he were still alive.
2. Teboho Moekena
Bafana Bafana player Teboho Moekena recently came under fire after he publicly declared his support for EFF leader Julius Malema. Briefly News reported that Masandawana's young star trended on social media after the stunt he pulled while on stage at Bafana's reception at OR Tambo International Airport.
The 27-year-old midfielder shared a special shoutout to EFF leader Julius Malema on national TV while addressing the people who came out in numbers to support and welcome the team at OR Tambo International Airport.
Mokoena gushed over Malema and made a statement that Juju is his favourite president in Mzansi:
"I'm very happy to see President Julius Malema. He is my favourite president."
3. Ntando Duma
Ntando Duma also made her political affiliations clear and even came under fire for declaring support of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) after having been spotted in ANC regalia.
Briefly News reported that Ntando had to take to Twitter to explain that when she was in the ANC regalia, it was a paid campaign, but being a 'Red' is her personal choice. She proudly declared that she voted for the EFF:
Source: Twitter
4. Pearl Thusi
In 2021, Sunday World reported that Pearl Thusi openly bashed the ANC, saying that if the African National Congress won the local elections that were happening at the time, then it would mean that South Africans hated themselves.
Briefly News reported that Pearl Thusi later admitted that she regretted promoting the ANC after social media users dug up old pictures of her in the political party regalia and questioned her newfound criticism of the party.
Thusi's revelation was met with mixed reactions from social media users, however, many understood that she did what she did for the paycheck.
5. Makhadzi
Makhadzi made her political affiliations clear when she recently performed at the ANC manifesto launch in Durban last month. Briefly News reported that Makhadzi trended on social media for praising the ANC government's impact on her village's development during an ANC manifesto speech.
Source: Instagram
Despite her positive remarks, she faced backlash from users who criticised her for endorsing the ANC amid dissatisfaction with the government's performance.
Social media comments highlighted scepticism and a call for change in the upcoming elections.
Do celebrity endorsements affect a celebrity’s credibility?
Seasoned journalist and content producer Israel Eferobor believes that political endorsements can have both a positive and negative effect on a celebrity's brand. Eferobor said:
“The involvement of celebrities in politics can have a negative or positive impact on their brands because there will always be a section of the citizens who will still call out the government for what they have done or not done. This will impact on the brand of the celebrity involved, good or bad.”
Legit media PR manager, Tetiana Chymkh, weighed in with her thoughts:
“There’s no silver bullet when we talk about personal image. The decision to deal or not to deal with political parties should be made based on the personal brand the celebrity wants to support and with what s/he would like to be associated with.
"If the image of a celebrity coincides with or at least complements the brand of a political party, such collaboration can theoretically exist.”
Chmykh added:
“However, you should always keep in mind that you’ll be associated not only with all the good made by a certain political force but all the dirt as well.
"So, it’s really important to ask yourself before agreeing to support certain political parties: 'Am I ready to be a part of it and deal with all the consequences?' "
Are South African voters influenced by celebrity endorsements?
Briefly News readers weighed in with their thoughts on this in the form of a poll conducted on 26 February 2024. From this data, we learned that 100% of readers who participated in the survey were not influenced by celebrities’ political endorsements.
Facebook user Sisanda Gumede said that no celebrity has ever convinced her to vote:
“Nope, when it comes to politics, no one can ever convince me. I wasn't a voter but this year I will happily vote for the MK and no one convinced me.”
Another user, Thuli Qwabe, also confirmed that no celebrity has ever convinced her to vote.
Bonang encourages Mzansi to go and vote in upcoming elections
In similar news, Briefly News reported that South African media personality Bonang Matheba urged citizens to register to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, calling on her fans to do the right thing.
Matheba encouraged her millions of followers to register and plans to wake up at 4am on election day to cast her vote. Social media applauded Matheba for using her platform to promote voter participation, with many expressing their intent to join her at the polls for change.
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Source: Briefly News
