Val Boje
Awareness about Covid-19 is high among South Africans, pointing to widespread policy and media coverage. However, attitudes towards the handling of the pandemic have changed as lockdown has been extended month after month.
At least three-quarters of respondents in the second UJ-HSRC Covid-19 democracy survey reported a high level of knowledge, with the dominant channel for information being television (72%), followed by radio (45%) and news sites, both print and online, (41%). One third of respondents rely on social media for their information.
Researchers said it was disconcerting after five months of the pandemic (at the time of the survey), one-fifth of respondents claimed they knew little and 2% claimed not to know anything about Covid-19.
At least 70% of participants agreed they were willing to sacrifice some human rights if it contributed positively towards the prevention of the spread of the virus, less than during the hard lockdown phase.
Digging further into which rights citizens were willing to sacrifice, it included not attending one’s place of worship (56%) and the right to travel (51%) – which has since been relaxed.
In terms of the general attitudes towards the coronavirus, 41% held the view that the threat had been exaggerated, with the percentage increasing as lockdown has been relaxed.
This, the researchers warned, could have an impact on adherence to safety regulations if left unaddressed.
In terms of short-term coronavirus outlook, only 17% feel we are over the worst, with 59% believing the worst is yet to come. 18% believe the situation will remain the same and 6% were unsure.
Trust in government and other core political institutions is regarded as a critical in determining effective responses to the Covid-19 crisis.
At the time of the survey (July to September), an estimated 65% believed the president was doing a good job in handling the pandemic, a decline from 85% during the first round of the survey.
On the question of adherence, 77% believe that people across South Africa were not taking lockdown restrictions seriously enough.
Since lockdown Level 3, 70% of respondents indicated they had personally experienced a situation in a supermarket where others were not adhering to social distancing regulations while queuing.
Approximately half said they had travelled in a minibus taxi that was full (before this was allowed) or where some passengers were not wearing masks.
Around a third had experienced people not keeping a safe distance while queuing for a food parcel, or at a clinic, hospital or doctor’s room, while others experienced a lack of proper protocols at work.
With the move to Level 1, and the greater burden of responsibility on citizens to stop the spread of Covid-19 through individual actions, the researchers said the fact that 28% of respondents said they did not always wear a mask, was cause for concern.
Hunger has been a pressing issue during lockdown: 41% of survey participants reported they had gone to bed hungry since lockdown, while 27% indicated someone else in their household had experienced this.
Other lockdown challenges, such as reliable access to basic household services during lockdown had also been challenging for many, including water, transport and complaints around load shedding.
87% were very concerned about financial situation of all citizens, while 85% voiced strong concerned for themselves, and 81% reported that they were struggling to pay for their expenses. The deep-set financial anxiety has not diminished since Level 1, nor has the emotional stress.
Asked to list which emotions they experienced on a regular basis, the most commonly experienced emotion was stress (57%). This was following by fear (42%), frustration/irritability (39%), depression (36%), and boredom (30%).
Asked if they felt the pandemic would unite or divide South Africans, 36% felt the pandemic would make South Africans more united and supportive of one another, while 43% adopted a more sceptical view (growing social distrust / self-interest).
This represents a shift compared to the first round of the survey during the hard lockdown period when 45% of respondents believed the pandemic would promote social solidarity.