Mbeki, Motlanthe trump Zuma
FORMER president Thabo Mbeki enjoys a higher favourability rating than President Jacob Zuma among registered voters.
As part of a representative Ipsos survey of 2 222 registered voters, each respondent was asked: “On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means ‘totally against’ and 10 means ‘totally in favour’, how would you rate the following political leaders?”
The results suggest that Mbeki, who averaged 7.5 out of 10, enjoyed a higher favourability rating across all registered voters than Zuma, who averaged 6.5.
The survey was conducted between February 20 and March 11. (On February 7, Zuma officially announced the election date would be May 7.)
Of the respondents polled, 23% rated Zuma between 0 and 2, or “totally against”. Only 10% put Mbeki in the same bracket.
Zuma’s “totally against” rating was also higher than that of former ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe (12%) and marginally more than new ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa (19%).
Mbeki was rated by 35% of respondents between 8 and 10, or “totally in favour”. Zuma managed 32% in this category.
When looking at just ANC supporters, Mbeki and Zuma both rate an average of 7.9%. Likewise, 47% of ANC supporters are “totally in favour” of both Zuma and Mbeki, and there is only a fraction difference with regard to the “totally against” category: 6% for Mbeki and 8% for Zuma.
The survey was conducted be- fore public protector Thuli Madonsela’s adverse finding against Zuma about the security upgrades carried out on his private residence at Nkandla.
Among ANC supporters, Motlanthe outperforms Ramaphosa. His average score was 7.2 and Ramaphosa’s was 6.4. In turn, 32% of ANC supporters were “totally in favour” of Motlanthe, but only 22% were “totally in favour” of Ramaphosa.
Of current political leaders, the Democratic Alliance’s Helen Zille fared next best with an average score of 5.1. Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi fared worst with an average score of 4. Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema, although averaging 4.2, had the greatest number of respondents “totally against” him, at 48%.
The survey also looked at the favourability rating of the DA’s Gauteng premier candidate, Mmusi Maimane. A potential candidate for the DA parliamen-
The survey was conducted before public protector Thuli Madonsela’s adverse finding against Zuma
tary leadership should his party fail to win Gauteng, Maimane would find himself competing against incumbent Lindiwe Mazibuko.
When the poll is filtered for DA supporters only, Mazibuko outperforms Maimane.
Mazibuko averages 6.5% and Maimane averages 5.1%, suggesting Mazibuko is far more popular among the party faithful. The survey found that 26% of DA supporters are “totally against” Maimane, whereas just 15% are “totally against” Mazibuko and 29% of DA supporters are “totally in favour” of Mazibuko. The corresponding figure for Maimane is 10%. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.timeslive.co.za