Joburg election posters — the good, the bad and the embarrassing

It is obvious that political parties believe election posters are important for reaching voters.

This is why they spend so much time and money on distributing them around the country. It is a chance to put forward an unfiltered message directly to people who make electoral decisions.

The design of an election poster is something of a political art. It needs to be eye-catching and dramatic. The branding needs to be easily identifiable as belonging to your party and no one else’s, and it needs to work as a piece of commercial and political art.

Above all of that, it needs to articulate a simple message that will drive people to the polls. This is why the slogans our parties are using are particularly revealing.

Virtually none mention the city they’re in, or even their local mayoral candidate.

From the ANC to MK

The ANC’s main slogan, on most of the posters seen in parts of suburban Johannesburg, is “Vote ANC” or “Let’s Continue Building Better Communities Together”.

Appropriately enough for a party that cannot decide on its mayoral candidates, the main image on these posters is of President Cyril Ramaphosa. A person who, on election day, will lead the ANC for only another year and six weeks.

This poster probably reveals more weakness than strength. It is a reminder of how the ANC has no clear message that speaks to the people of Joburg.

It is also a reminder of the internal strife in the party. For those who will be thinking longer term, it also reminds them that the party has few strong leadership candidates when Ramaphosa’s term ends.

The uMkhonto Wesizwe party appears to use two similar slogans in its English-language posters in Joburg.

Some say “We’re Taking Municipalities” (which is the English translation of their main slogan “Sithatha Omaspala”) while others say “Bring Back our Municipalities”.

Again, the main image is of Jacob Zuma, a person whose face is so well known to South African voters that it needs no further explanation.

But this also ties the future of the party to Zuma. While it will remind some voters of who they are really voting for, it will remind others of the worst aspects of the State Capture era that he created.

Meanwhile, many of the EFF posters have an image primarily of Julius Malema. Again, local candidates are often absent, despite the fact that their Joburg mayoral candidate is the relatively well known Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng.

The party’s main slogan is the less-than-cheerful “Victory or Death”.

This appears to be an attempt to cast this local election in apocalyptic terms, but with no local message.

Mashaba’s message

Action SA is remarkably different, perhaps befitting a party based in Gauteng.

In Joburg, many of its posters have a picture of Herman Mashaba with the phrase “Let’s do it Again”. 

This must refer to his time as mayor, when he belonged to the DA in the years after 2016. 

However, it’s not clear that most voters will have fond memories of that time – certainly he does not point to concrete successes from that era.

While it is a party that actually focused on its Joburg mayoral candidate, it does not mean Mashaba will take up a seat in the Joburg council.

He was the mayoral candidate in 2021, and yet when it was clear he would not be mayor again, he resigned his seat.

In the 2024 elections, he was Action SA’s presidential candidate, but also did not take his seat in the National Assembly when it was clear he would not be president.

Clearly, Mashaba will take up a seat in a legislature only if he can have the top job. 

Meanwhile, in Tshwane, some Action SA posters refer specifically to their mayoral candidate there, the current mayor, Nasiphi Moya. The message there is “Five More Years”, obviously urging people to keep her in power.

While that is a powerful message, she is only in power through support from the ANC. This is the party that Mashaba said he went into politics for, to remove it from power.

The PAC’s main election poster (of which there is at least one in, of all places, Sandton) merely has an image of its leader Mzwanele Nyhontso with the slogan, “Reclaim our Land”.

This is an English rendition of one of its foundational political rally cries of “Zwe Lethu! iAfrika!” or “Our Land! Africa”.

However, Nyhontso is the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform in the national coalition, which means that he is technically in charge of land policy in South Africa.

FF+ and Rise Msanzi

The FF+ posters are more revealing than most. Many of them have an image of their former leader, Pieter Groenewald, with their current leader Corné Mulder.

Their slogan is usually “Dis Tyd” (It’s Time) or “Dis Ons Tyd” (It’s Our Time).

This might be slightly sinister. The sight of two mature white men proudly telling their voters “it’s our time” might well just remind some voters of when white people made all of the important governance decisions.

This might indeed be the point, in the same way that “Make America Great Again” has undertones about race and the past.

Rise Mzansi appears to have posters of both its national leader, Songezo Zibi and others of its Joburg candidate, Lukhona Mnguni. 

DA, Bosa crafted messages

It appears that only the DA has posters in Joburg that focus almost entirely on that community. This is part of a much bigger strategy that saw it decide to deploy a national figure, Helen Zille, to the metro.

Its slogans include “Get Joburg Working for All” and “Get Joburg Working Again”.

This is also a sign of how it has been able to spend more resources in suburban Joburg than other parties. Zille and her team have been campaigning for longer than all the other parties, and ensured the DA reached more voters as a result.

But critics of the DA could say the fact that Zille had to move from Cape Town to Joburg in the first place reveals its own lack of candidates. They are also likely to say that considering her relatively mature age, she is unlikely to serve a full term as mayor.

One of those critics is Build One SA, or Bosa. While its posters do feature leader Mmusi Maimane, they also include the party’s Joburg candidate Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster.

They also offer the most nuanced messaging among all of the posters so far seen. The posters display three separate sentences on differently coloured backgrounds.

On a yellow background in green letters (two of the ANC’s colours) is the slogan, “They broke Joburg”, on a blue background (the colour of the DA) the slogan “They will sell Joburg”, and on a black background, “We will build Joburg”.

Uniquely among the election posters seen so far in Joburg, this is a dig at other parties.

With just over a month to go until polling day, some parties will be keeping their main message for the week before the polls. It is likely that some will reveal their gut-punch message to voters only about 10 days before they vote, for maximum shock value.

But for the moment, the posters on offer in Joburg reveal how few ideas our parties have. DM