A poll to be officially released by Markinor this afternoon through the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is expected to show a dip in support for the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and support for the New National Party (NNP) stabilising at around six percent.
While Anneke Greyling, a Markinor director, said the results would be released by the SABC — which commissioned the poll — and details would only be available then, party political sources indicate that support for the DA has slipped from 11% to 9% compared to a previous poll in April.
The NNP, which withdrew from the DA in November 2001, is understood to be maintaining its support level of around 6% — slightly down on the 6,87% it achieved in the 1999 election.
The ruling party is expected to slip only slightly from 56% in the last poll to 55% in today’s poll, say the sources. It gained 66,35% in 1999. However, its polling position is generally lower than its support achieved in elections.
The DA — in the form of the Democratic Party — gained just under 9,56% in the national election in 1999 when it ousted the NNP as official opposition. But today’s expected result is sobering compared to the nearly 23% it achieved in the municipal elections of 2000 when the NNP was part of it.
The poll was taken in the second half of this year among 3 500 people.
The United Democratic Movement (UDM) is expected to raise its support level in the poll from two percent to just over three percent. It gained 3,42% in 1999. High profile court action by the party — in opposition to the defection legislation — may have assisted in heightening its profile among respondents. – I-Net Bridge