SOUTH Africans are becoming more optimistic about government’s ability to fight crime and improve the economy, according to the results of a survey released on Tuesday. The independent Human Sciences Research Council said a survey conducted in November last year showed most six out of 10 people believe the government has some degree of control over crime. This compares favourably to the mere 51% of respondents who believed in the authorities’ ability to stop crime in December 1998. He said that notwithstanding ongoing concern about their economic circumstances in 1999, fractionally more people are optimistic (35%) than pessimistic (34%) about their economic prospects for 2000. The survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2672 adults.