Tomorrow’s webinar will unpack data from the latest polling by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), which implicitly repudiates the stoking of racial divisions by political interests for their own ends.
The findings reveal that ordinary South Africans have long moved beyond the historical politics of race and are united in focusing on solving the country’s real challenges: jobs, corruption, and crime.
In Pro-Growth or Pro-Poverty: Findings of IRR Polling 2025, Report 3: Race and Race Relations in South Africa as of 2025, the IRR publishes findings from a representative survey in which respondents were asked to name their two most pressing national concerns.
The results indicate conclusively that socio-economic frustrations and aspirations far outweigh identity-based grievance: 38% of South Africans identified jobs as their top priority, followed by corruption (10%) and crime (9%). By contrast, only 2% mentioned racism and 4% cited Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). These patterns were consistent across all racial groups, a striking confirmation that the overwhelming majority of South Africans share a deracialised, pragmatic set of national priorities.
The findings, drawn from a demographically representative national survey conducted between 27 March and 3 April 2025, offer insights into how South Africans define their values, expectations and priorities.
In tomorrow’s hour-long webinar, starting at 10am, IRR Strategic Engagements Manager Makone Maja will be joined by author of the report and IRR Head of Strategic Communications Hermann Pretorius in discussing the findings and answering questions.
Join the webinar by registering here: https://streamyard.com/watch/wjVpfHaUKCdJ
[Image: Alexandr Ivanov from Pixabay]