Strategic Manoeuvering in 2019 Campaign Speeches in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa: Extended Pragma-Dialectical Perspective

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Zameka Paula Sijadu
Gaspardus Mwombeki

Abstract

This article investigates how political candidates in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa employed means of strategic manoeuvring during the provincial election campaigns of 2019. It assumes the framework of the extended pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation, by first reconstructing the argumentation structure, identifying the means of strategic manoeuvring, and finally, critically analysing the prototypical speech acts in the political campaign discourse. The data were collected from the isiXhosa newspaper I’solezwe LesiXhosa during the campaign from February to April 2019. The findings demonstrate commissives and assertives as the prototypical speech acts in the political argumentative discourse in the Eastern Cape Province. In addition, dissociation is manifested in multiple contexts to persuade the audience of the standpoint that the opposition parties are more visionary than the incumbent party, African National Congress.

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How to Cite
Sijadu, Z. P., & Mwombeki, G. (2023). Strategic Manoeuvering in 2019 Campaign Speeches in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa: Extended Pragma-Dialectical Perspective. Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, 11(1), 73–98. https://doi.org/10.26806/modafr.v11i1.355
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Articles
Author Biographies

Zameka Paula Sijadu, Stellenbosch University, South Africa

She is a Lecturer at Stellenbosch University. Her areas of specialisation are Human Communication, Discourse Analysis, Multilingualism. Her recent publications include an article entitled “Metaphors as strategic maneuvering in isiXhosa traditional argumentative political discourse.” Co-authored are two Covid-related articles entitled: “Politics of Language in COVID-19: Multilingual Perspectives from South Africa” and “South Africa Laughs at Covid: A functional perspective.” She is currently investigating the role of translanguaging in political context, social media and education. E-mail: sijadu@sun.ac.za

Gaspardus Mwombeki, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

He is a lecturer in the Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at the University of Dar es Salaam. He holds a PhD in African Languages, specialising on Strategic manoeuvring in political campaign discourse (Stellenbosch University), and an MA in Linguistics, B.Ed. in Arts (University of Dar es Salaam). He is currently conducting research on “Strategic manoeuvring in using restricted African languages” and “The power of Sympathy in persuading voters in Tanzania.” His areas of specialisation are Political argumentation, Discourse Analysis, Rhetorics, Business Communication Skills, and Pragmatics. E-mail: gaspardusmwombeki@gmail.com