SOUTH AFRICA PERSPECTIVE

Cape Town watches Islamabad through the prism of a war Iran is winning — on social media. The Mail & Guardian develops the angle of Iran's informational victory, a framing that resonates with South Africa's tradition of sympathy for movements perceived as resisting Western hegemony. South Africa, a BRICS member with Iran as a candidate for admission, doesn't hide a certain admiration for Tehran's ability to contest the American narrative in digital space. What South African coverage reveals: for the Global South, the question isn't just who wins the military war, but who wins the war of narratives.