Public trust in elected representatives and state institutions in SA has reached its lowest in history, with only a quarter of South Africans expressing trust in either the governing or opposition parties, according to a new survey by research network Afrobarometer.
According to the survey, which captured the views of 1,600 South Africans in May and June, just before the July riots, trust in elected representatives is especially weak, and two-thirds of respondents would be willing to forgo elections if a nonelected government could provide jobs, improved security and better services including housing.
Trust in political leaders and government institutions has been on the wane in recent times amid the revelations of grand-scale looting of parastatals at the commission of inquiry into state capture. Tackling corruption is seen as crucial in the drive to stabilise SA’s finances and state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as well as attracting much-needed investment to boost the ailing economy and create jobs. Yet the government has, for the most part, failed to deliver on that score.
The failure to tackle graft has undermined government credibility, as has the questionable appointments at key institutions. Most recently, the ANC redeployed former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to head parliament despite her facing accusations of corruption and allegations of abusing state resources.
According to the Afrobarometer survey report, in the wake of widespread rioting and looting sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma in July, there is a clear lack of confidence in state institutions and that threatens to undermine government authority and legitimacy.
Confidence in nearly all institutions — including parliament, the presidency, the courts, public protector, religious leaders and the SA Revenue Service — is low and declining. Only media broadcasters, both independent (63%) and government backed (61%), and the department of health (56%) enjoy the trust of most citizens, while less than 50% of respondents expressed trust in all the other major state institutions.
The Electoral Commission of SA and the public protector, two institutions mandated by the constitution to protect and uphold the democratic character of the state, could only muster trust among 36% and 42% of citizens, respectively. Equally concerning is weak trust in the country’s courts of law (43%), according to the survey report.
“South Africans’ trust in a variety of institutions is at its lowest since first being measured by Afrobarometer in 2006,” Mikhail Moosa and Jan Hofmeyr, the authors of the survey report, said.
Trust in the president dropped from 70% to 34%, between the 2006 survey, conducted during the Thabo Mbeki presidency, and the 2015 survey, during Zuma’s tenure, and has recovered only slightly, to 38%, under Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Arguably, the strength of trust in the president has implications for the extent to which he has leverage within government and in the broader society to influence narratives and effect changes,” the authors of the report said.
The proportion who trust the president “a lot” has declined significantly, from almost half (47%) of respondents in 2006 to just one-fifth (21%) in 2021.
“In other words, the Ramaphosa presidency, facing a pandemic and an economic crisis, has substantially less social capital at its disposal than Mbeki had in 2006, or even what Zuma had in 2011. On the other hand, in the course of the Ramaphosa presidency, the share of respondents who do not trust the president ‘at all’ declined from a high of 39% in 2015 to 30% in 2021. Even so, we can postulate that Ramaphosa’s capacity for bold action is significantly constrained,” the authors of the report stated.
“To succeed, institutions of the democratic state must be viewed as fair, transparent and accountable, and as capable of delivering on their core mandate to provide equitable access and redress in light of the country’s deep, inherited social inequality.... Amid increasing mistrust of public institutions, the riots in July may have been a warning. The government will need to improve its delivery of services, provide greater social protection, and demonstrate a determination to punish corruption to have any chance of rebuilding trust between citizens and their state,” the authors of the report said.
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