A profile under the name of former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa has been created on the social networking site Facebook and is slowly gaining supporters.<\/p>\n
But organisers for the national convention Shilowa supports could not immediately confirm that the profile was legitimate.<\/p>\n
Shilowa did say recently that sites such as Facebook would be used to market this weekend’s convention.<\/p>\n
However, in an interview with the Mail and Guardian on Friday, Shilowa, talking about the secrecy surrounding the name of the new opposition party expected to emerge from the event, said: "I had to fend off a lot of cyber-squatters so I’m very guarded about this".<\/p>\n
The Facebook profile cites Shilowa’s political views as "Other" while his favourite movies are thrillers, romances and dramas.<\/p>\n
The profile, with smiling pictures of him and his wife, Wendy Luhabe, was created on Thursday night. By 9.45am on Friday, he had 25 supporters.<\/p>\n
Politicians’ profiles on Facebook do not have lists of friends like general users do; they have supporters instead.<\/p>\n
Shilowa’s favourite music is cited as jazz, African music and gospel, while his interests are politics, development, economics,travel and governance.<\/p>\n
According to the profile, his favourite books are the Bourne trilogy by Robert Ludlam and his favourite TV shows are current affairs programmes.<\/p>\n
His favourite quote: "Man make history [sic] but not under their own choosing."<\/p>\n
The website address cited on his profile is www.novemberconvention.co.za, that of the national convention organised by him and suspended former African National Congress chairman Terror Lekota. <\/p>\n
The convention will be held this weekend to discuss the formation of a breakaway political party by mainly ANC members who say they are disillusioned with the party’s current leadership.<\/p>\n
A supporter, Devon Mitchell Brough, posted a notice on Shilowa’swall that reads: "My faith has been restored in South African politics!" Moments like this are history in the making and I am proud to be a South African!"<\/p>\n
Lekota also supposedly has a profile on Facebook, but it certainly is not the real thing.<\/p>\n
It names him as "Mosioua [sic] Terrosist [sic] Lekota" with a big black cross over a picture of him.<\/p>\n
The fake profile says of his relationship status: "It’s complicated with everyone who feels we are being taken for a ride by these losers Lekota and George."<\/p>\n
It adds: "Becarefull of this looser Mr Mosioua Terrorsist Lekota[sic]."<\/p>\n
The profile has only one supporter.<\/p>\n
ANC leader Jacob Zuma also has a profile created under his name with some 1200 supporters.<\/p>\n
But Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille seems to be the leader of the online pack with 1800 supporters next to a photograph of her staring staunchly into space.<\/p>\n
But there are friendlier pictures of her on at least six Facebook groups, created to advocate Zille’s becoming president.<\/p>\n
To put it into context, however, US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has more than two million supporters on his profile while hisrival, John McCain, has some 600,000 supporters on his Facebookprofile.<\/p>\n