Rule Breakers: How the 2024 Election Campaign Changed South Africa Forever

The 2024 election reshaped South Africa's politics. The once invincible ANC lost its majority and teamed up with its fiercest opponent to form a government. How on earth did we get here?

Rule Breakers gives a blow-by-blow account of the campaigning ahead of the 2024 election and explains what worked and what didn't. It unpacks the meteoric rise of Gayton McKenzie's Patriotic Alliance, what caused the well-funded Rise Mzansi campaign to fizzle, and why did Julius Malema's EFF get stuck below 10% support?

It is not a book about blame games, shame games or political spin. Rather, it is about what the voter heard, saw and experienced that changed the game. It is a deep dive into the crucial moments, voices, emotions and decisions that shaped the outcome of a game-changing campaign:

Which speeches, events, rallies, scandals, news stories, posters, and gaffes cut through the noise to change public opinion?
How and when did sentiment towards key political players change over the course of the campaign?
Which issues dominated public debate as South Africans woke up on election day?
And what will the new "rules" of our politics be?

Pretorius offers insight into the minds of an often-misunderstood nation - a nation at a crossroads, making sense of the chaos of a maturing and tumultuous democracy. He offers the definitive post-match analysis of how the 2024 elections broke all the rules, making it essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the new political landscape that will emerge in our fourth democratic decade.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rule Breakers is the first book by Hermann Pretorius, analyst, researcher, and head of strategic communications at the Institute of Race Relations.

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