Most South Africans are satisfied with the performance so far of the country's coalition government, also known as the Government of National Unity which was formed after this year's general elections, according to a new poll.
CAPE TOWN, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Most South Africans are satisfied with the performance so far of the country's coalition government, also known as the Government of National Unity (GNU) which was formed after this year's general elections, according to a new poll.
The Social Research Foundation (SRF), a South African think tank, published its survey report on Friday. Of the 1,204 people who voted in the May elections and were surveyed by the SRF in September, nearly 60 percent believed the GNU is working well and will succeed.
The GNU was formed by the African National Congress (ANC) and nine other political parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since 1994 in the May elections.
According to the survey, 18.5 percent of participants thought the GNU is performing "very well," with 39.4 percent saying it is doing "quite well." The figures also indicated that 58.7 percent of respondents believed the GNU "will succeed." Only 29.6 percent believed the coalition government "will fail."
When asked "if general elections were taking place today, which party would you vote for," 45 percent said they would vote for the ANC, which won 40.2 percent of the vote in the May elections, and 24 percent for the DA, which won 21.8 percent.
Meanwhile, 12 percent named the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, which garnered 14.6 percent of the vote in the May elections, and the Economic Freedom Fighters, which won 9.5 percent, was only mentioned by 6 percent of participants in the survey.
"The data indicates that both the ANC and DA have grown in support since the May 2024 elections. In general, the parties that are inside the GNU are up and the parties outside of it are down. This is consistent with the fact that the GNU is broadly well regarded by voters," concluded the report.
The survey had a margin of error of 3 percent, it added.■