There is growing disillusionment and frustration with democracy by South Africans as reflected in the low levels of confidence in political leaders and public institutions.
This was said on Wednesday by senior research associate at the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) Kate Lefko Everett at a media briefing on the release of the IJR’s South African Reconciliation Barometer (Sarb).
The findings of the survey conducted for the barometer echo those of the one conducted by Afrobarometer which found that 49% of all South Africans would prefer a military regime to a civilian government in power, a rise from the 28% support in 2022.
However, 49% believed democracy was preferable to other government systems. Seven out of 10 South Africans were dissatisfied with the way democracy functions in the country, the Afrobarometer survey found.
Afrobarometer Southern African project leader Preston Govindsamy explained there is a dichotomy between confidence in the format of democracy and in the players within that format.
“There seems to be a continued and growing restlessness about the way democracy is run in the country compared to the actual concept of democracy,” he said.
IJR senior research fellow professor Rajen Govender similarly noted the disjuncture between people having much more confidence in the idea of a government of national unity (GNU) and much less confidence in political leaders.
The barometer finds low levels of confidence in political leaders and political institutions, including political parties. Confidence in public institutions also remain low with the lowest being in local government (26%) and in deputy president Paul Mashatile (25%). Confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa stands at 33%.
Lefko Everett noted trust and confidence in public institutions is an important indicator of how well a democracy is functioning.
The results of the survey suggest that the 2026/27 local government elections may take place in a similar climate of discontent.
Levels of public confidence in political parties were found to be universally low. Half or more of all South Africans expressed little or no confidence in the ANC (50%), DA (54%), MK (54%) or EFF (53%) while 78% believed that leaders could not be trusted to do the right thing most of the time.
“Many South Africans felt that national leaders neither listen to nor act in the interests of ordinary people,” the barometer says.
The survey of 2006 people countrywide for the 2025 South African Reconciliation Barometer was conducted one year into the first term of the GNU precipitated by the ANC’s loss of its outright majority in the 2024 national elections. The data was collected between July 28 and August 25 2024.
A total 31% of the respondents expressed a great deal-quite a lot of confidence in the effectiveness of the GNU, 31% some and 34% little or none. Responses were similar to questions about the ability and commitment of political parties to work together as members of the GNU.
Average confidence was highest in the Western Cape, the North West and Limpopo and lowest in the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. Political party preference was the second strongest determining factor of responses followed by income group and urban-rural context.
“Public evaluations of the GNU and key policy initiatives were mixed, including National Health Insurance (NHI) and the National Dialogue, suggesting some willingness to allow time for the coalition to demonstrate results,” the barometer report says.
“Despite the dramatic shift in the national political landscape, survey results revealed a similar picture to 2023 — one characterised by perceptions of distrust, doubt and division,“ the barometer says.
Regarding laws that have been contested within the GNU, less than half (46%) of the respondents strongly approved/approved of the Expropriation Act and 20% strongly disapproved/disapproved; and 61% approved of National Health Insurance, 16% were neutral and 19% disapproved.
Despite broad-based BEE being a key government policy to achieve transformation, the survey finds low levels of support for broad-based BEE as well as for preferential practices and the continued use of race categories for measuring transformation. “Just over half of all South Africans agreed/strongly agreed that broad-based BEE policies have gone far enough in addressing inequalities and should be phased out,” the barometer says.
Three-quarters (76%) also agreed that hiring and promotions should be strictly merit-based and two-thirds (67%) agreed that using racial categories did more harm than good. However, 82% agreed that a racially representative workforce should be a national priority.
Assessments of progress since 1994 remained relatively unchanged with many believing the situation has not changed much. Less than half of South Africans expected the situation in the country to improve in the coming years across a range of indicators. There was less optimism than two years ago that reconciliation would continue to increase in future.
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