The following is a summary of results for South Africa from the 2002 Global Attitudes Survey by the Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press, based in Washington.
Only a minority of South Africans express satisfaction with their personal lives (33% rate their lives a seven or higher on a scale of zero to 10) but this was the second highest level of satisfaction in all of Africa (only Nigeria, at 36% satisfied, was higher); 41% give their lives moderate ratings (4-6), while 27% place themselves at the bottom (0 to 3).
Satisfaction with the way things are going in the nation was very low in South Africa, with 79% saying they were dissatisfied and only 20% saying they were satisfied. In Africa, only Nigerians and Kenyans expressed greater dissatisfaction with their nation.
Although at least two-thirds of people in all African nations cite crime as a ”very big problem” in their country, South Africans rank at the very top of the continent with 96% saying this.
Along with Bangladesh, this is the highest in any of the 43 nations in which this question was asked.
Concern over the spread of infectious diseases is highest in Africa, where Aids, tuberculosis, malaria and other illnesses have taken a deadly toll. Nearly all respondents in South Africa (96%) judge disease a ”very big problem” in their country.
South Africans are more likely than residents of any other African nation to say that immigration is a very big problem (63% say this, compared with 41% or less in every other African nation surveyed). South Africans are also more likely than other Africans to say that emigration is a very big problem (52% say this).
As is true for most nations of Africa, most South Africans (85%) say the news media is ”a good influence” on their nation.
Only 54% say this about the military, a lower percentage than in most other nations in the region.
Half of South Africans (51%) say President Thabo Mbeki is having a bad influence on the nation, while 46% say his influence is good. This is the lowest rating for any leader among the 10 African nations surveyed.
Nearly six-in-10 South Africans (59%) said they had been unable to afford food in the past year. Similar percentages said they could not afford to pay for medical or health care (59%) or clothing (61%) they or their families needed.
Two-thirds (67%) of South Africans have at least a
somewhat favourable attitude toward Americans, while 25% have an unfavourable attitude.
Seven-in-10 (71%) of South Africans say they like American music, movies and television; 20% dislike them. But they are divided on whether it’s good that American ideas and customs are spreading to South Africa: 43% say it’s good; 45% say it’s bad.
The Global Attitudes Project conducted personal interviews with a random sample of 700 South Africans from August 26 to September 11, 2002. The questionnaire was administered in six different languages or dialects. Based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3,7% points. – Sapa-AP