PODCASTS COULD SHIFT SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICS IN A MAJOR WAY FOR 2024

Podcasts are gaining more and more power by the day and could eventually be a huge tool for political change in South Africa. As we approach the 2024 South African general elections the country has gone through some of its toughest times in recent memory and the people are all looking for change.South Africa's history is a painful one that is layered in hate, segregation and he fight for freedom for all so when the rulling party took over in 1994 it finally felt like that war was over and it was the dawn of a new age. 28 years later and most people are saying that the country economically and socially is in an even worse place and ANC has become the bullseye target for everyone's anguish. We are now living in times where the wings of change are upon us and podcasts may just be the perfect catalyst for change. 

Gone are the days of billboards and political rally speeches being enough to get the people to vote for them, people are all gravitating towards independent media because we are tired of the lies. Podasting has over the last 10 years become one of the main media platforms and has completely changed the world as we know it. Currently as the numbers sit Macg's Podcast and chill platform is the biggest podcast in Africa and is propably the most influential platform South Africa has seen in recent memory. The politicians and their political parties are seeing this and are begining to use podcasting as a new marketing strategy for their propaganda.

The first podcast to really start talking to politicians was the Virtual Mkhukhu with Dj Sbu and Penuel The Black Pen and they have started a revolution that may have a huge outcome on our up and coming elections. They have sat down with Duduzane Zuma, Herman Mashaba, the leaders of Afriforum and many more which I believe then inspired Podcast & Chill to follow the same path. The Podcast & Chill platform had made their intentions clear by saying that they would not be getting involved in politics which I believe was a major perspective of many youth around the country. I believe after MacG and Sol went onto the Virtual Mkhukhu they were inspired to help to politically conscientise the youth. These discusions are begining to change people's minds in a major way and are begining to get the youth to care about what is happening in the countries political landscape. 

The leader of the DA political party John Steenhuisen was recently on the Podcast & Chill platform and this is when I really started seeing the power of podcasts. Within the first 24hrs of the episode being released I began seeing many black young people tweeting that they were considering voting for the DA party which was a first in histroy. It was the first time majority of the young black people had actually given their time to listen to one of the other political parties besides ANC & EFF which has now completely chnaged the game. Over the next 20 months we are going to see a lot of political parties going to different podcast to try and pursuade the youth to vote for their parties and this is where things are going to get interesting. The great thing about Podcasts is that they are independent platforms and are not controlled by the same rules that govern mainstream media. The politicians will not be able to dance around the real questions that the people want real answers to and I believe new leaders are going to emerge from all of this.

It is a new age and I hope the owners of the leading Podcast's in the country realise how much power they have and use their powers for the greater good of the people.