United Democratic Movement (UDM) Buffalo City mayoral candidate Nqabayomzi Kwankwa and Buffalo City mayor Princess Faku have condemned an AI-generated image circulating on social media depicting Kwankwa chasing Faku with a whip.
Kwankwa is campaigning to unseat Faku, who is seeking to retain her position as Buffalo City mayor for the ANC in the forthcoming local government elections.
The fabricated image surfaced after another image depicting Kwankwa being chased was circulated online and has since been shared by several people.
Kwankwa denied any involvement in creating, authorising or distributing the image and rejected it “in the strongest possible terms”.
“Depicting violence against a woman whether real, staged or AI-generated is never acceptable, least of all in our politics,” he said.
Kwankwa said political campaigns could involve robust debate and criticism, but there was a line that should not be crossed, particularly when it came to violence against women.
He apologised directly to Faku for any distress the image may have caused her, regardless of who created or circulated it.
Faku’s spokesperson, Bongani Fuzile, said the mayor had noted the image and found its depiction “deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable”.
“Political differences should never be expressed through imagery that portrays violence, humiliation or the degradation of another person,” Fuzile said.
He said Faku was particularly concerned about the depiction of violence against a woman.
“Regardless of political affiliation, gender or position, no individual should be subjected to imagery that normalises or trivialises violence against women,” he said.
Fuzile said Faku had also noted Kwankwa’s public condemnation of the image, his denial of involvement in its creation or distribution and his apology.
“She welcomes the fact that he has distanced himself from the material,” he said.
Both camps called for greater responsibility on social media as political parties prepare for the local government elections.
Kwankwa urged those who had shared the image to remove it from their platforms and called on UDM supporters, activists and page administrators to verify content before sharing it.
Fuzile said political competition should be based on ideas, policies and programmes aimed at improving residents’ lives.
“It must never descend into personal attacks, intimidation or the normalisation of violence,” he said.
He said political opponents could disagree without dehumanising each other.
“Let us contest elections with dignity, respect and a commitment to the democratic values that our country fought so hard to achieve,” he said.
Kwankwa said his campaign would not be defined by fabricated content, personal attacks or imagery that demeaned women.
“Our campaign is about ending unequal development, fixing the roads, addressing the water and sanitation crisis, and ensuring that Buffalo City is run by qualified and capable people,not cadres,” he said.
He said how political parties conducted their campaigns was as important as the issues they campaigned on.
“How we campaign says as much about us as what we are campaigning for. We must be able to fight for political change without compromising the dignity of anyone ,including our political opponents,” Kwankwa said.
Daily Dispatch