Favourability Scores of Prominent Political Figures in South Africa

It does so via favorability scores. The scores are calculated by asking survey participants the following question, “on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being a very cold unfavorable feeling, 50 being not particularly warm or cold and 100 being a very warm favorable feeling, how do you feel about candidate X?”. Scores of 89 and higher are recorded as being ‘very favorable’. Scores of 64 and above were recorded as ‘favorable’ (the ‘very favorable’ and ‘favorable’ scores are added together in some report tables to give a total ‘favorability perception score’.) The report compares these ‘favorability perception score[s]’ over the period from July 2022 to March 2023. Scores of 39 to 63 are recorded as ‘neutral’, scores of 14 to 38 as ‘somewhat unfavorable’, and scores of 13 and below as ‘very unfavorable’. The data is then further broken down via race and political party affiliation.

The July 2022 data was drawn from a survey of 3 204 demographically and geographically representative voters. That survey had a national margin of error of 1,7%. The March 2023 data is drawn from a survey of 1 517 demographically and geographically representative registered voters. That survey had a national margin of error of 4%. The October 2023 data is based on a survey of 1 412 geographically and demographically representative registered voters. That survey had a national margin of error of 5%. Totals may not add up to 100% where rounding has occurred or where participants refused to answer a question.