according to public
Barry Streek
After the churches, the media are the most trusted institution in South Africa – more so than all levels government, the police, the defence force and the of courts.
These surprising findings were revealed this week by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) when it released its latest Public Opinion of National Priority Issues, detailing the results of a survey of 2 672 adults conducted in November last year.
The survey shows 66% of the population trusts the media – considerably more than the levels of trust for political parties (39%), trade unions (38%) and local government (48%).
“The role of the media in keeping the public informed has seemingly won them the trust of the South African public,” the HSRC’s Gregory Houston and Stephen Rule conclude.
Provincially, the highest levels of trust for the media were in the Eastern Cape (77%), KwaZulu-Natal (73%), the Free State (72%) and Mpumalanga (70%), while the lowest was in the Western Cape (52%). It showed the greatest distrust of the media was in Gauteng (19%).
The survey found that 74% of blacks, 50% of coloureds, 49% of Indians and 38% of whites trusted the media, while 10% of blacks, 17% of coloureds, 33% of Indians and 38% of whites distrusted it.
Among income groups, the highest level of trust was among those people with no income (70%), those earning between R1 and R579 (69%) and those earning R580 to R2 499 (68%), but lowest among those earning R2 500 to R5 829 (47%) and R5 830 to R12 499 (49%).
Meanwhile, the survey also showed that poor South Africans are generally more impressed with the government’s delivery of health and education services than wealthier people.
While 38% of people with no income, 42% of those earning between R1 and R579 a month and 39% of those earning between R580 and R2 499 thought health services delivery had improved, 55% of those earning between R2 500 and R5E829 to 71% of those earning more than R12E500 thought the delivery of health services had worsened.
The trend in education services delivery was similar – most of those earning less than R2E500 a month thought it had improved, while those earning more than R2 500 felt it had worsened, rising to 75% among those earning more than R12 500 a month.