Which Party Do South Africans Think Controls The Government of National Unity
This report investigates the perception amongst registered South African voters of whether the ANC controls the policy agenda of the GNU, the GNU is a coalition of equals or if the smaller parties control the agenda. The data in the report comes from a survey of 1 004 demographically and geographically representative registered voters conducted by the Foundation during February of 2025. That survey had a margin of error of 4%. Totals may not add up to 100% where respondents refused to answer the question.
I'm going to read you three statements, please can you tell me which you agree with most:
By race
I'm going to read you three statements, please can you tell me which you agree with most:
By education
I'm going to read you three statements, please can you tell me which you agree with most:
By party affiliation
I'm going to read you three statements, please can you tell me which you agree with most:
By income
TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS
The data indicates that the bulk of South African public opinion agrees with the idea that the ANC is dictating the agenda of the GNU. This finding provides a partial explanation of why the ANC has seen its vote share shrink so significantly in this survey while the other parties' have remained stable from September 2024, as voters have assigned responsibility for the policy agenda of the GNU to the ANC. A long term trend in South African public opinion, that the Foundation has regularly highlighted, has been the unpopularity of the ANC's populist policy agenda. By maintaining course on this agenda, instead of adopting a more economic growth centric policy agenda, the ANC appears to be continuing on the same path that led them to the historic loss of vote share in the May 2024 election.
