Meet the instigators: The Twitter accounts of the RET forces network that incited violence and …

A business premises ablaze during widespread looting and protests in Durban, 12 July 2021. (Photo: EPA-EFE / STR) In less than a month, 12 Twitter accounts became central to the instigation that caused mayhem and destruction as they spearheaded the call to release Jacob Zuma from prison. The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) is a non-profit organisation that was formed in 2017 to act in the public interest. The CABC is incubated at the Graduate School of Business (GSB) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The team is drawn from various organisations including the GSB, the Alan Gray Centre for Values-Based Leadership, the Citizen Research and Dialogue Centres and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. The team covers a wide range of skills, including academia, technology, research analytics, dialogue facilitation, conflict mediation, communication, and advertising. Accounts belonging to the RET forces network have been discovered in the top 12 accounts responsible for inciting violence on social media during the recent unrest in South Africa — initiated by calls for former president Jacob Zuma to be released from prison. The top 12 accounts — four of which belong to the RET forces network — repeatedly retweeted hashtags intended…
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