Number 1, we have a problem
SA MOVING IN WRONG DIRECTION Study finds ‘state capture’ is unacceptable and would change the way people vote.
Nearly 40% said government was responsible, while 29% identified Zuma as the accountable party. Only 4.9% felt citizens were to blame.
Those who believed SA was moving in the right direction (17%), mentioned improved education and RDP housing as reasons. A small percentage (6%) didn’t know or care about the country’s direction.
The study highlighted high levels of distrust and dissatisfaction with the current government. The majority of respondents believed their basic needs weren’t being met due to state capture and high levels of corruption, but also showed a culture of apathy, which allowed leadership to get away with underperformance.
Zuma fared the worst among government leaders, with 64% of people rating his efficiency as “very badly”.
Leaders were rated poorly in the “very well” category across the board, and mainly single-digit percentages of respondents rated their performance as “very well”.
“That is exceedingly low. It is the lowest we’ve ever seen in a study,” Gevers said.
Most South Africans were aware of the concept of corruption, with 89% saying they’ve heard the term and 99% indicating it’s unacceptable. Half personally knew someone who was corrupt.
A total of 77% said they’d not heard of “state capture” before, but upon hearing the definition, 68% said it happened in SA. A total of 91% thought it was unacceptable and said it would change the way people vote.
When asked about the perceived involvement of stakeholders in corruption and state capture, the president and the police were at the top of the list, followed by political parties.