“National intelligence” is driving a social media campaign punting Dr Pieter Groenewald, the Minister for Correctional Services, for president. This is the view of the leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), Dr Corné Mulder.

Mulder was speaking to the Afrikaans weekly Rapport. Groenewald had been party leader before Mulder.

Claiming that he had received confirmation from sources in the United States (US), Mulder’s concerns about this emerged from a recording with a former party councillor in which he claimed to be aware of such a campaign. He described it as “a project of national intelligence.”

He said that the intention was to create division in the party.

“And if I tell you the national intelligence services,” Mulder said, “it’s not because I think so, it’s because I know so. I’ve been informed from [within] the US.”

He told Rapport that he stood by this position.

In recent months, Groenewald has been the subject of a social media campaign, supposedly reflecting widespread support among black South Africans (the FF+ primarily appeals to minority and particularly Afrikaner constituents). The agitation includes songs in Zulu, generated by artificial intelligence, referring to Groenewald as a “white man” and praising him for being aggressive in dealing with criminals.

There is no definite confirmation of who is behind the campaign. Mulder commented that it “seemingly arose spontaneously”. He said that contacts in the US had told him that it was being propelled by the intelligence services. He did not specify who these contacts were.

He added that social media accounts pushing a Groenewald presidency were popping up, with posts made regularly.

Mulder further said that the campaign was misleading voters, as the upcoming election was a local poll, not one in which the presidency was at stake. Besides, voters did not vote for presidents, but for parties.

A government spokesperson told the media that the intelligence services were engaged in dealing with real threats and did not get involved in internal party matters.

However, it is important to note that South Africa’s intelligence services have been badly compromised over the past three decades. Deliberately politicised, they have become embroiled in the internal battles of the African National Congress (ANC) – a report on the riots in July 2021 found that this had made the ANC’s internal conflicts a serious threat to the country. It is highly unlikely that they are not monitoring and conducting operations against other parties.