The Democratic Alliance will provide real-time coverage of the local government elections via social networking site Twitter, it announced on Sunday.
“We will be providing on Twitter live, real-time coverage of the election results, as well as analysis and projections based on the DA's internal data,” said the party's election spokesman Gareth van Onselen.
“We will identify key results as they come in, for example, what can be understood by the result in a particular voting district and what it means more broadly.”
Van Onselen said the feed would provide comparative information on where the DA was growing and what was happening to the ANC and other parties.
“This will give a clear, coherent idea of exactly how well the DA is doing and what the results mean.”
The party would tweet from the Independent Electoral Commission's national results centre in Pretoria on Wednesday.
“If you want to be the first to know, if you want the best analysis and if you want real time updates, log on to Twitter and follow us. It's going to be an electrifying 48-hours,” Van Onselen said.
The announcement comes just days after President Jacob Zuma joined Twitter.
He began tweeting on Tuesday and gathered more than 600 followers within an hour of his first post.
“Democracy is flourishing in South Africa, thanks to the active participation of all citizens. It's wonderful. Vote 18 May!” read his first tweet, posted from an iPhone, from the account SAPresident.
His spokesman Zizi Kodwa said Zuma decided to join the world of Twitter to better communicate his activities and reach a wider audience. - Sapa