Most South Africans think Jacob Zuma will become South Africa’s next president, TNS Research Surveys said on Thursday — although many also fear a Zuma presidency would be disastrous.
Two thousand respondents were asked in a survey who would become the next president of South Africa in 2009. Just more than one-quarter selected Zuma. The second-most-popular candidate was current Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
However, there was a large gap of popularity between the two candidates. Ten percent of respondents selected Mlambo-Ngcuka, as opposed to the 27% who selected Zuma.
Eight percent of respondents selected President Thabo Mbeki for a third term. Presidential hopefuls Cyril Ramaphosa and Tokyo Sexwale received 7% and 6% of the vote respectively.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille received 4% of the vote and Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma got 3%. Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille and former DA leader Tony Leon each got 2% of the vote.
TNS Research Surveys conducted face-to-face interviews with 2 000 adults from the seven major metropolitan areas of South Africa.
The survey company said the fact that respondents selected some presidential candidates that were not ruling-party members demonstrated a lack of understanding about political processes involved in selecting the country’s president.
Just less than half — 46% — of the respondents believed South Africa might be ready for a female president when Mbeki steps down.
The survey also asked respondents if they thought Zuma becoming president in 2009 would bring disaster to the country. Nearly half — 48% — of respondents felt doom was imminent, although this feeling differed quite significantly between different racial groups.
Thirty-three percent of black respondents felt a Zuma presidency would be disastrous, as did 69% of white respondents, 78% of coloured respondents and 81% of Indian or Asian respondents.
Durban was the least pessimistic region with only 36% of its inhabitants predicting disaster if Zuma came to power. Cape Town was the most pessimistic — 73% of its respondents felt it would go downhill for South Africa if Zuma became president. — Sapa