Almost half of South Africans feel out of touch with key representative institutions, while two thirds believe that their elected leaders do not really care about their plight. This is according to the 2015 SA Reconciliation Barometer (SARB) Survey that was conducted amongst a nationally representative sample of 2219 respondents in August and September of 2015. In spite of their scepticism in key institutions and elected leaders, most respondents indicated a preference for peaceful means of democratic expression. Yet 15% of those surveyed indicated that they have used violence or force to achieve political objectives in the preceding 12 months, while another 10% were willing to engage in such activities, should circumstances demand of them to do so. When the latter two categories are combined, it suggests that that a quarter of voting age respondents displayed a receptiveness towards violent forms of political engagement. This should be of concern in the in the run-up to the country’s fifth local government elections on the 3rd of August 2016.
To date, several observers have expressed their disappointment with the polarising rhetoric of the political campaigns thus far and the impact that this may have on the conduct of the elections. As previously reported, results of the 2015 SA Reconciliation Barometer Survey point to high levels of distrust that still exist between South Africans of different historically-defined racial categories, as well as growing schisms that are emerging between supporters of different political parties. The upcoming local government elections coincide will occur at a time when many South Africans are experiencing severe economic pressure. It will, therefore, be incumbent upon political organisations to be sensitive to these conditions and refrain from campaigning that exacerbates these social divides.
These and other findings will be presented this Thursday, 28 July 2016, 9h30 for 10h00-12h00 at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban by Jan Hofmeyr, Head of Policy and Analysis at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR).
The event is hosted by the Democracy Development Programme (DDP) and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS).
Media Enquiries: Samantha Kambule: 021 202 4078 /E-mail: skambule@ijr.org.za
RSVP: Nonhla Gamede, E-mail: rsvp@ddp.org.za