Abstract
In recent years, there has been a rise in online movements in the Republic of South Africa, but rarely have they been against a particular governing political party. Corruption within the African National Congress (ANC), the governing political party, has seen many of its leaders facing serious allegations. After the removal of Jacob Zuma as the president, many citizens of the country held the belief that Cyril Ramaphosa would ‘save’ the ANC and the country. Recently, South Africans expressed their disgruntlement with the party when it emerged that state tenders to provide personal protective equipment (PPE) meant to protect those combatting the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic were awarded to ANC leaders and their close associates. Humorous memes, parodies, songs and videos mocking the ruling party went viral with the hashtag #VoetsekANC, through which social media users that make up Generation Z and Generation Alpha expressed their discontent with the ANC. Many advanced that the ANC of former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki no longer existed. The chapter offers a Foucauldian discourse analysis on the parodic song, “A Song for the ANC” by The Kiffness, and argues how the recent public outrage, demonstrated in #voetsekanc, which engulfed social media, is a manifestation of ‘governmentality’ and influencer culture.
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Mbinjama, A. (2021). #VoetsekANC and COVID Corruption: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis of “A Song for the ANC”. In: Mpofu, S. (eds) Digital Humour in the Covid-19 Pandemic. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79279-4_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79279-4_11
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