A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in the field of Strategic Marketing Johannesburg, 2016 / South Africa has witnessed a decline in youth voter turnout. Consequently, political parties are integrating social media in their political marketing strategies in order to appeal to the youth voters. Notwithstanding the cumulative research that has been conducted on social media political marketing globally, there is dearth of such research in South Africa. Furthermore, no studies have explored the influence of social media political marketing on voter trust, loyalty and voting intention of the youth in the South African political context. This research intends to contribute to the increasing knowledge on the efficacy of social media political marketing by political parties in South Africa to engage with the youth and improve their election turn out. The two main research objectives the study seeks to achieve are to establish the influence of social media political marketing on voting intention, with voter trust and voter loyalty as mediators and to determine which mediator (voter trust or voter loyalty) has the strongest influence on the outcome variable (voting intention). Using a data set of 250 respondents, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, from Gauteng Province in South Africa, this study explores these relationships. The study outcome is that all five hypotheses are supported. The results denote that the relationship between social media political marketing and voter trust, social media political marketing and voter loyalty, voter trust and voter loyalty, voter trust and voting intention and voter loyalty and voting intention are all positive in a significant way. The research paper deliberates on the implications of the results from an academic, political party, legal and marketers’ perspective. In addition, directions for future research are suggested. / MT2016

Thesis (M.Com.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Business and Economic Sciences, 2017 / With an increase in competition in the political sector, there is a paradigm shift as parties revert to branding to influence voters’ political party brand preference. Political marketing is one of the most important aspects of developing industry which affects institutions, people and the involvement of successful candidates in the modern generation of politics. Therefore, it is of interest to examine how political party branding can enhance brand preference of the voters. Although several studies have explored political marketing and factors influencing university students’ intention to vote using various mediums, few studies have explored distinctive cues as a holistic concept in investigating the effect on youth of brand image and brand preference. More precisely, few studies have explored this topic in a political context among the youth in South Africa. This research purpose is to determine whether political party branding influences voting brand preference among the youth in South Africa, through the means of the proposed conceptual model, brand identity, positive word of mouth and brand authenticity as the predictors, brand image as the mediating variable, and brand preference as the outcome variable. The current study undertakes a quantitative approach, where 379 questionnaires were received from the respondents, (University of the Witwatersrand students), to explore the influence of political party branding on voting brand preference among the youth in South Africa. The data was analysed using structural equation modelling and Amos 23.0. Findings support all five proposed hypotheses. Hence indicating that brand identity, positive word of mouth and brand authenticity, influences brand image and brand preference. The contribution of this study is to provide general information to guide political parties or politics in South Africa in developing marketing / branding strategies based on the concept of brand preference. These contributions will help different types of political parties in having the knowledge of the critical role of brand preference and its implementation in the political marketing context. Theoretically, it is positioned in political marketing and adds to empirical literature that focuses on political branding, branding and voters’ preference in political parties. Lastly, by examining the predictors’ variables and their influence on brand image and brand preference, the findings provide political parties with a better understanding of branding strategies that can be implemented to influence voters’ preference before, during and after a campaign through comprehensive political branding. / XL2018

D.Litt. et Phil. (Politics) / This study places on record South Africa‟s UN voting data from 1994 to 2008. It also investigates consistency in terms of South Africa‟s declared foreign policy and its actual voting practices at the UN during that period. The voting data and related speeches are drawn from the UN‟s Index to Speeches available through the UN Documentation Centre as well as from an examination of the recorded votes in the UN Index to Proceedings and the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBISnet) – the two main databases concerning voting records in the UN and found in the Dag Hammarskjold online library. Using its own three-step model of voting behaviour, the study traces South Africa‟s declared foreign policy on selected issues in the first step; the Republic‟s voting actions on the issues in the second step, and then interpretations of the voting actions taken in the final step. By organising the voting data in this way, the study intends to make the examination of South Africa‟s voting behaviour within this multilateral forum more manageable. The model is applied to four themes identified as prominent within South Africa‟s foreign policy in the years under review. A table is also employed to assess if the voting is inconsistent, partly consistent or consistent with the declared policy under review. The Republic‟s voting behaviour is examined with regard to the following four themes: the promotion of human rights and democracy; disarmament and related non-proliferation issues; the advancement of African interests and the consolidation of the African Agenda within the context of North-South relations, and reform of the UN and the promotion of equitable global governance. The study concludes that between 1994 and 2008 there was congruity between South Africa‟s declared foreign policy and its UN voting behaviour in most respects. The Republic was mostly consistent on issues of UN reform, followed by the promotion of African interests, then disarmament issues and lastly with regard to human rights and democracy promotion. It is evident that South Africa has stumbled at times and sidelined certain principles, human rights promotion in specific countries most especially. It could be said that South Africa‟s foreign policy evolved from one unsure how to deal with human rights issues at the UN, to one rooted firmly in nurturing solidarity with its Southern partners in Africa and the rest of the world. This reflects a young democracy finding its way in the multilateral organisation and attempting to balance external expectations of the Republic with its foreign policy priorities. Overall South Africa demonstrated a fair commitment to its declared foreign policy, and principles, in its UN voting behaviour.

Bibliography: pages [156]-159. / I have written this dissertation as an empirical study of the African National Congress' (ANC) 1994 election campaign in South Africa's Western Cape Province. Primarily, I address one overriding question: what are the principal reasons for and ramifications of the AN C's inability to win control of the province? I begin by exploring key factors concerning the history, demographics, electoral system and pre-campaign voter attitudes of the province that may have influenced how the party developed and implemented its strategy. I describe the evolution of the campaign, including strategic decisions made before and during its execution, and analyze the content of appeals to voters. I then assess the extent to which the above factors may have affected the campaign and examine the election results. I conclude by offering plausible implications of this case for future ANC campaigns in the Western Cape.