Two-thirds of South Africans believe the country is going in the right direction and nearly 80% are satisfied with the performance of President Thabo Mbeki, a survey revealed on Thursday.
Seven out of every 10 think that the national government is doing a good job, says a Markinor survey.
Only slightly more than four out of every 10 think Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is doing good work.
Unemployment and the lack of job creation were still the major criticisms levelled at the government, according to findings from Markinor’s biannual Government Performance Barometer.
The most recent fieldwork for the poll was done in November 2005 and personal in-home interviews were conducted among 3 500 randomly selected South Africans from all walks of life.
Markinor said interviews were conducted throughout the country, including deep rural areas.
The question asked was: ”Do you think the country is going in the right or the wrong direction?”
Markinor said although this question looked fairly innocuous, it proved to be a very good indicator of the mood of the electorate.
It said in November, 20% of the respondents thought the country was headed in the wrong direction.
The balance had no opinion, or could not quite decide which option to choose.
A total of 64% of men and 66% of women thought the country was going in the right direction.
Blacks were the most positive, with 70% saying the country was going in the right direction, followed by coloureds (50%), whites (45%) and Indians (43%).
It said since the national election in April 2004, the approval for Mbeki stayed more or less the same.
In May 2004 and again in November 2004, 80% of South Africans thought he was doing his job ”very well” or ”fairly well”.
In November 2005, this figure stood at 78%. Blacks (83%) were the most positive, followed by Indians (65%), coloureds (64%) and whites (56%).
The November 2005 poll was the first measurement of approval for the new deputy president.
A total of 43% of the respondents said she was doing her job ”very well” or ”fairly well”. However, 17% indicated that she was doing ”not very well” or ”not at all well”. Forty percent said they did not know enough to express an opinion.
Women (44% approval) were slightly more positive than men (41%).
Markinor said the biggest challenge ahead for Mlambo-Ngcuka was to garner a reputation among those with very little or no education, as 59% of them indicated that they ”didn’t know” and therefore could not [yet] express an opinion.
Axed deputy president Jacob Zuma’s performance was rated as 34% ”very” or ”fairly well” in July 1999 just after he took office. Six months later it was 49%. His highest score ever as deputy president was at 66% just after the 2004 election.
During the first Mbeki term, opinions about the national government stayed fairly stable — between 50 and 60% — meaning the government was doing ”very” or ”fairly well”.
After the April election, it surged to 75%. In November 2004 it was 72%, and in November 2005 it was 71%.
Forty-five percent of the respondents were positive about local government, and 48% negative. Only seven percent were unsure.
”This poses a challenge for the government in view of the upcoming local election, but even more so for the new councils,” Markinor said.
”It is very interesting to see that it is younger people who have more appreciation for the work done by the local councils, as the political participation of younger people is always an issue.
However, this opinion does not mean that they will go and vote on 1 March 2006.” – Sapa