‘Political gladiators’ on Facebook in Zimbabwe: a discursive analysis of intra–Zimbabwe African National Union – PF cyber wars; Baba Jukwa versus Amai Jukwa

Abstract

Social media have been hailed as liberative in contexts of political repression. In Zimbabwe, there are emergent debates on the possibilities of using Facebook to ‘democratise’ political space. But the use of Facebook to settle personal political scores or to relentlessly attack political opposition seemed to have escaped academic scrutiny. This study looks at the use of Facebook by opposing camps in Zimbabwe’s July 2013 election to attack each other, as well as the challenges posed by this scenario. It looks at Baba Jukwa and Amai Jukwa’s pages on Facebook. The study is grounded in the concepts of freedom of expression, the public sphere and democracy. Semiotic analysis and critical discourse analysis were used to analyse the posts by Baba Jukwa and Amai Jukwa. The study sought to explore how the Internet’s liberative potential enhanced by free entry and exit and the ability to remain anonymous impacts on Baba Jukwa and Amai Jukwa’s discourses on Facebook. It revealed that the two pages make use of personal attacks on ‘targets’, and the resultant polarisation is often mirrored in the mainstream media. The study concludes that even though Facebook provides an alternative public sphere, it can also be ‘pulverised’ by irrational debates.

Media, conflict and democratisation in Africa: Political communication by other means

“…While ostensibly more humorous gossip than serious whistleblowing [Harding 2013], the anonymous and highly popular Facebook page interpellated its readers in the language of politics, resistance and citizenship, addressing its readers at the start of each post as 'Great Zimbabweans' and ending with ' Asijiki' (no retreat) [Mutsvairo & Sirks 2015: 331]. Benefiting from the anonymity that the Internet provides, the page attacked Mugabe and his government, called for political change and warned users of alleged irregularities ahead of upcoming elections [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1257. The page was updated several times a day to publish leaks that could embarrass the government, e. g. alleged assassination plots by the government, corrupt dealings, violence, brutality and election-rigging [Mutsvairo & Sirks 2015: 33].…”

“…Not only did Baba Jukwa's Facebook page poke fun at officials and unmask malfeasance, it also gave Zimbabwean citizens an opportunity to air their grievances directly with officials by providing their telephone numbers -which many Facebook users apparently availed themselves of the chance [Mutsvairo & Sirks 2015: 331]. As a dialogic space, Facebook users could also use the digital platform to speak back to political power by leaving comments and voice their opinion on the site [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1257. In a repressive environment, such political frivolity can have serious consequences: the editor of the state-controlled newspaper Sunday Mail Edmund Kudzayi and his brother Phillip were thought to be behind the Facebook account and arrested in 2014 on charges of 'attempting to commit an act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism, undermining the authority or insulting the President and publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state' [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1248.…”

“…As a dialogic space, Facebook users could also use the digital platform to speak back to political power by leaving comments and voice their opinion on the site [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1257. In a repressive environment, such political frivolity can have serious consequences: the editor of the state-controlled newspaper Sunday Mail Edmund Kudzayi and his brother Phillip were thought to be behind the Facebook account and arrested in 2014 on charges of 'attempting to commit an act of insurgency, banditry, sabotage or terrorism, undermining the authority or insulting the President and publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to the state' [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1248. The case was later dAropped after the state withdrew charges due to lack of evidence [Sibanda 2015].…”

“…This is not so much because of any demonstrable democratising effect it might have had on political processes, but the fact that the blog became a popular topic of political conversation in an otherwise highly restrictive environment. The digital space in Zimbabwe also became a place for political contestation, as a similar figure, Amai Jukwa appeared on Facebook, but supporting the governing party, ZANU-PF and seemed to serve as a counter for Baba Jukwa's allegations [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1248. While Baba Jukwa could be seen to provide a counter-hegemonic voice through alternative platforms and popular formats, Amai Jukwa illustrated the ways in which these new platforms could also be appropriated by the ruling class to perpetuate hegemonic narratives [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1258.…”

“…The digital space in Zimbabwe also became a place for political contestation, as a similar figure, Amai Jukwa appeared on Facebook, but supporting the governing party, ZANU-PF and seemed to serve as a counter for Baba Jukwa's allegations [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1248. While Baba Jukwa could be seen to provide a counter-hegemonic voice through alternative platforms and popular formats, Amai Jukwa illustrated the ways in which these new platforms could also be appropriated by the ruling class to perpetuate hegemonic narratives [Chibuwe & Ureke 2016: 1258. These accounts also invigorated news reporting about Zimbabwean politics and upcoming elections.…”