MONDAY, 5.30PM
THE ANC and National Party have both lost support since the 1994 elections, with unaligned voters showing potential interest in the new United Democratic Movement of Bantu Holomisa and Roelf Meyer, according to the latest Idasa opinion poll.
Idasa public opinion services project manager Dr Bob Mattes told a public forum that the survey, conducted in June and July, showed a sharp decline in National Party support in its Western Cape stronghold, from 37,9% in 1994 to 31,6% today.
Voter identification with the ANC had dropped from 62 percent after the 1994 elections to 49 percent in 1997, Mattes said, but he noted that this was a four percent improvement over September 1995’s all-time low.
The Inkatha Freedom Party had dropped from six percent in 1994 to five percent this year. Only the smaller parties, such as the PAC (up from 1,8 to 2,2%) and the Democratic Party (1,6 to 1,9%) have improved their position. The poll puts the new UDM at third position behind Inkatha, with 3,1% of the vote.