President Zuma's metro approval levels drop to their lowest point since the last election

Johannesburg, 14 March 2013:  The President's approval rating in metro areas in the Middle two weeks of February 2013 stood at 41%.  This compares with 55% in February last year and 48% in August.  Further, the proportion of people who do not approve of the way he is doing his job has risen to 51%, also a new high and the fist time this has exceeded 50%. 

This is according to results released today by TNS, South Africa's leading marketing and social insights company, which has been tracking approval levels of the incumbent President for many years.  The studies are conducted amongst a sample of 2 000 SA adults from the seven major metropolitan areas of South Africa, interviewing them face-to-face in their homes, with a margin of error of under 2.5%. 

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* Net positives are given by subtracting those who feel he is NOT doing a good job from those who feel he IS doing a good job.

As usual, approval levels differ considerably by population group, with blacks having an approval level of 54%, whites having an approval level of 13%, coloureds 22% and Indians/Asians 14% - with the exception of coloureds (who show no significant change since August), these all represent drops averaging nine percentage points since August 2012. 

Younger people are more positive but this largely correlates with the age profiles of the different race groups.  People whose home language is isiZulu have the highest ratings at 64% (down from 71% in August), English and Afrikaans speakers average 17% (down from 24%) and other language groups average 47% (down from 55% in August).

ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa

The study also asked if people feel that ANC Deputy President would make a good President of South Africa.  Not surprisingly, a third of people gave a "don't know" response but 41% feel he would make a good President whilst 25% do not.  Blacks are the most positive at 51%, with whites at 24%, coloureds also at 24% and Indians/Asians at 23%. 

Differences by area

There are usually strong regional differences in such figures.  These are outlined below and show that the main change for the President in his approval rating has been in Soweto where the figure of 42% is the lowest since the President assumed office; the Port Elizabeth figure of 22% is also an all-time low.  Only Bloemfontein showed a rise, all other areas recording a drop,

Cyril Ramaphosa's figures are very consistent across most of Gauteng but much lower in Cape Town (as are the President's) as well as in Durban and East London.  The best results are from residents of Bloemfontein.

Our take out

President Zuma's approval ratings are at their lowest since he assumed office: this drop is almost universal. 

Technical note:

All the studies were conducted amongst 2 000 adults (1260 to 1290 blacks, 350 to 385 whites, 240 coloureds and 115 Indians/Asians) in the seven major metropolitan areas: they have a margin of error of under 2.5% for the results found for the total sample.  The studies use probability sampling techniques and are fully representative of the major metropolitan areas.  The studies were conducted by TNS South Africa as part of their ongoing research into current social and political issues and were funded by TNS. www.tnsglobal.co.za

About TNS

TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 80 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world's consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviours and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world.  TNS is part of Kantar, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups.      Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.

Statement issued by Karin Du Chenne, CEO TNS South Africa, March 14 2013

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