Social media advocacy in the #MustFall campaigns in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa has always been a protesting nation that fights for a righteous cause. These protests were witnessed at the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 when blacks refused to carry passbooks (Identity books) everywhere they went within their own country; to the 1976 Soweto unrests where students were gunned down by the South African police for fighting for the banning of Afrikaans as the language of study for core subjects. Such protests present South African historic past of the disenfranchised and refusal to take unrighteous cause. By 2015, the outburst of social media (such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp) had given the disenfranchised in South Africa a powerful voice that could reach, not only most of national corners, but spread across the globe. Presented in this article, is a case study of the role played by social media in support of the recent South African student protests, collectively known as #MustFall campaigns, for free tertiary education with a specific focus on the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall, and compares them with previous national protests and movements.