President Jacob Zuma's national approval level is 52 percent, while deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe's is at 70 percent, according to a survey released on Monday.
“The survey found that, overall, 52 percent of people surveyed approved of the way President Zuma is doing his job,” TNS South Africa said in a statement.
The survey was conducted between December 6 and 10 via cellphone amongst a national sample of 3100 people, aged between 18 and 45, living in South Africa's metro and non-metro areas.
The study showed that in metro areas the figure for Zuma fell slightly to 49 percent, but rose to 58 percent in non-metro areas.
Motlanthe's approval level was 70 percent overall, 67 percent in metro areas and 75 percent in non-metro areas.
“The previous metro reading for the deputy president was 51
percent. He has maintained a small lead over the president the whole year, but this has now widened considerably.”
TNS said that as always in South African political matters, there were major differences by race.
As the study was done a few days before the African National Congress's national elective conference in Mangaung it was worth noting that amongst black South Africans approval levels were, as usual, higher than for other groups, TNS said.
Among blacks Zuma had a 57 percent approval rating and Motlanthe 75 percent. In metro areas Zuma's approval rating fell and Motlanthe's rose.
Whilst there were no differences by gender for the figures for the president, the figures for the deputy president show higher approval levels among men.
No age differences occur for Motlanthe, but the figures show a rise in approval amongst younger people for Zuma.
“Not surprisingly, President Zuma's ratings are highest in KwaZulu-Natal, 64 percent, whereas Deputy President Motlanthe's figures are highest in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West, 80 percent.” - Sapa