President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval ratings have fallen significantly since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly amongst white South Africa.
This was according to a joint survey carried out by the University of Johannesburg and the Human Sciences Research Council.
At the beginning of the pandemic 85% of South Africans trusted the way the President was handling the crisis, but this has now fallen to 61%. At the beginning of the pandemic 90% of white South Africans approved of President Ramaphosa’s management, but this had fallen to 41%. There had been a similar decline amongst Indian South Africans, with the President’s approval rating having fallen from 82% to 33%.
The survey, which had 2 570 respondents and was weighted demographically, also found that only 51% of South Africans had trust in the national government during this crisis, with less than a third of respondents trusting the army and the police.
It also found that compliance with regulations around Covid was also split by political party support. For example, only 57% of people who said they were EFF supporters ‘always’ wore a mask in public, compared to 78% who said they supported the DA, and 81% who supported the ANC.