Most people don't trust Zuma - survey

Some 50 percent of self-identified ANC supporters say they distrust President Jacob Zuma, who is also the party's president. File picture: Dumisani Dube

Some 50 percent of self-identified ANC supporters say they distrust President Jacob Zuma, who is also the party's president. File picture: Dumisani Dube

Published Nov 25, 2015

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Cape Town -

President Jacob Zuma’s popularity has hit its lowest ebb - with a rising proportion of South Africans who disapprove of him in the wake of the Nkandla debacle.

This is one of the findings of an Afrobarometer poll by the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation, which said Zuma has lost significant citizen support since 2011. The institute released the results of its survey on the country’s leadership and government performance on Tuesday, showing the public’s approval ratings of Zuma had plummeted to an all-time low.

The findings show white and Indian South Africans and opposition supporters are most critical of the president, as are urban residents. There are differences according to sex.

The study also found that Zuma’s approval was generally higher in rural areas and among black people, the ANC’s traditional support base.

Some 50 percent of self-identified ANC supporters say they distrust Zuma, who is also the party’s president, while 45 percent of self-identified ANC supporters disapprove of him and his track record.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said the party generally did not respond to a survey “because it fluctuates and the outcome of a survey is not fixed”.

The research, which interviewed 2 400 people, described this year as tumultuous for the country’s democracy which saw key government officials embroiled in corruptions candals.

The findings include:

* Public distrust in the president stands at 66 percent, compared to 37 percent in 2011.

* Public disapproval of the president’s performance stands at 62 percent, compared to 34 percent in 2011.

* Public perception of corruption in the president’s office stands at 46 percent, compared to 35 percent in 2011.

The research found that public disapproval of the president’s performance hit its highest level (66 percent) since the survey was first conducted in 2000, according to Afrobarometer assistant project manager Rorisang Lekalake. Previous surveys were conducted in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011.

“South Africans’ trust in President Zuma almost halved in the past four years, with a majority (of people) reporting that they believe that he routinely ignores both the legislature and judiciary,” she said. “These results show that while a majority of South Africans continue to support the ANC, a great deal needs to be done to restore confidence in its leader.”

Most of the people interviewed also believed Zuma was ignoring Parliament and the law despite strong support among them that the president should be subject to the law.

The 66 percent jump in public distrust in Zuma, the 62 percent disapproval of his performance as well as the 46 percent of perceived corruption in his office have all increased significantly by 29 percent for public distrust, 27 percent for negative performance ratings and 12 percent for perceived corruption in the Presidency.

And almost six in 10 South Africans believed Zuma ignored the law and Parliament.

Also, disapproval of the government’s performance on unemployment, housing and crime had increased, with most people saying the government has performed fairly badly or very badly.

According to Afrobarometer, unemployment remained the key problem for most people, followed by housing, crime, education, poverty and corruption. And the success of the student protests in forcing the government’s hand to freeze university fee increases for next year means people may increasingly turn to action to achieve their objectives.

The survey said elected leaders may not escape unscathed by this year’s events. Provincial premiers received the highest level of public approval out of all the elected leaders, Afrobarometer analysts said.

Approval ratings for the nine premiers were constant, dropping off by only 1 percentage point since 2011 to 53 percent this year. However, accountability among elected leaders had typically worsened.

Lekalake said they were not worried about a political backlash as a result of the survey because “we are nonpartisan”.

“What we’ve learnt is that often when we have results like this there is some backlash, but this is what people said face to face,” he added.

“These findings are an opportunity for the government to turn things around. We were fairly critical of former president Thabo Mbeki as well, and he was able to use these results to turn things around.”

Political Bureau and The Star

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