Public Attitudes in Contemporary South Africa Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za © 2002 Human Sciences Research Council Distributed by Blue Weaver 25 Katie Martin Way Kirstenhof Cape Town South Africa Tel: 021-701 7302 booksales@hsrc.ac.za www.hsrc.ac.za ISBN: 0-7969-1994-1 Produced by comPress Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za Contents Contributors ix Preface xi Introduction: Public opinion and the prospects for democratic consolidation in South Africa 1999–2001 1 1 Politics, governance and civic knowledge 12 Satisfaction with the government 13 Race 16 Living standard measurements (LSMs) 19 Institutional trust 20 Race and living standard measurements 23 Civic knowledge 25 Conclusion 26 References 27 2 Political party preferences 28 Introduction 28 Intended votes 29 References 33 3 Provincial living preferences in South Africa 34 Provincial place preference: A general picture 36 Geographical preference and demographic characteristics 37 Race 37 Age 40 Language 40 Income 41 Educational qualification 41 Current employment and occupation status 41 Relationships between social well-being and preference for province 41 Migration tendencies 43 Conclusion 45 References 46 Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za 4 Identity and voting trends in South Africa 47 Identity, instrumentality and voting in ‘white’South Africa 49 The racial census approach 53 Self-identity and voting preferences 55 Conclusion 59 References 60 5 Race relations 63 Analysis of the survey 64 Factors influencing racial discrimination and racism in South Africa 70 Conclusion 72 References 72 6 Addressing HIV/AIDS 73 Results 75 Sense of concern 75 Level of knowledge 75 Perceived risk 76 Reported sexual behaviour and condom use 76 ‘Helpless, hopeless and meaningless’outlook on life 79 ‘Helpless, hopeless and meaningless’stance towards HIV/AIDS protection 80 Discussion 81 Chi-Squared Test Results 81 Concern, knowledge and perceived risk are high 82 Sexual behaviour and condom use 83 Significant protection constraints: Lack of hope 84 The way forward 85 References 86 7 Spirituality in South Africa: Christian beliefs 87 Introduction 87 Attendance at religious meetings 87 Public opinion and church attendance 89 Views about Christian principles 90 1. Prayer 91 2. Extra-marital sex 91 3. Jesus as the solution 91 iv Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za 4. Life after death 92 5. Spiritual re-births 92 Christian belief 92 Conclusion 96 References 96 8 Perceptions about economic issues 97 Perceptions about economic conditions in South Africa 97 Effects of government policies on the general economic situation in the country 99 Conclusion 101 9 National priorities 102 Previous surveys on national priorities 102 In regard to job creation, the results by province appear in Figure 9.2 103 Comparison by population group 104 Comparison by income group 105 Comparison by area type 105 Comparison by highest education qualification 107 Comparison by employment status 107 Comparison by age category 107 Comparison of how government could best reduce crime by province 108 Comparison by area type 108 Comparison by population group 110 Comparison by personal monthly income 110 Comparisons by employment status, age and highest educational qualification 111 1 O Environmental concerns 113 Major environmental issues at a national level 113 Major environmental issues at a local level 116 Socio-economic profile of people identifying environmental issues at a local level 118 Access to water 118 Clean air – prevention of air pollution 119 Access to land 120 Protection of indigenous plants/vegetation 120 v Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za vi Conclusion 122 References 123 11 Civil society participation 124 Membership to civil society organisations in the 2001 survey 125 Distribution of membership of civil society organisations 126 Conclusion 128 12 Information and communications technologies 129 Access to information and communications technologies 130 Access to communications technologies considering other factors 130 Radio station preferences and time spent 133 Conclusion 135 13 Families and social networks 136 Size of social networks 137 Immediate family members 137 Extended family members 138 Workplace friendships 139 Community friendships 140 Other friendships 141 Total number of friends 142 Frequency of contact 142 Frequency of contact with favourite sibling 142 Frequency of contact with child over the age of 18 years 143 Frequency of contact with parents 144 Frequency of contact with closest friend 145 Summary 146 Type of community 146 Gender 147 Race 147 Age 148 Composite social capital score 149 Conclusion 150 References 151 Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za 14 Human rights 152 Knowledge of human rights institutions 153 Gender 155 Race 155 Standard of living 156 Belief in human rights 159 Conclusion 163 References 164 Appendix 165 Introduction 165 The first SAARF Living Standards Measure (LSM) 165 1993 SAARF LSMs 166 Later developments of the LSM concept 167 1995 SAARF LSMs 167 2000 SAARF LSMs 168 The SAARF UNIVERSAL LSM 169 SAARF LSM 170 vii Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za ix Contributors Abigail Baim-Lance is an intern at the Fogarty HIV/Aids Research Training Programme at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine. John Daniel is head of the Publications Department and a research director in the Democracy and Governance programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Christian De Vos is an intern with the Democracy and Governance programme at the Human Sciences Research Council in Durban. Ronnie Donaldson is a senior lecturer in the Department of Geographical Science at Vista University in Silverton. Arlene Grossberg is a senior researcher in the Democracy and Governance programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Adam Habib is a part-time research director at the Human Sciences Research Council, Professor in the School of Development Studies and Director of the Centre for Civil Society, University of Natal, Durban. Craig Higson-Smith is a senior research specialist in the Child, Youth and Family Development research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Mbithi wa Kivilu is a chief research specialist in the Surveys, Analyses, Modelling and Mapping research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Godswill Zakhele Langais a researcher in the Surveys, Analyses,Modelling and Mapping research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Maano Ramutsindela is a lecturer in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town. Stephen Rule is director of research with the South African Ministry of Social Development. Craig Schwabe is head of the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Centre in the Human Sciences Research Council. Jarè Struwig is a chief researcher in the Social Analyses, Modelling and Mapping research programme of the Human Sciences Research Council. Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za Free download from www.hsrc p ress.ac.za [...]... province, and the country as a whole was being governed A six-point scale was used to measure satisfaction levels Table 1.1 summarises some of this data by combining the ‘very satisfied/satisfied’ and ‘very dissatisfied/dissatisfied respondents’ into two principal categories Table 1.1 Level of satisfaction with governance in SA by province Governance Satisfaction level EC FS GT KZN MP NC NP NW WC RSA... degrees of trust in a variety of civil institutions, including the national government and the court system Again, a six-point scale of trust was used As with the satisfaction index, Table 1.8 summarises some of this data by combining the ‘strongly trust/trust’ and ‘strongly distrust/distrust’ respondents into two principal categories Table 1.8 Level of institutional trust in SA by province Governance... declining trust with increasing levels of incomes again applies, though not in regard to the media, churches, or business Extrapolating from Table 1.9b, an average of 39% of LSMs 6–8 respondents indicated distrust in the national government, while only 22% in LSMs 1–3 indicated the same degree of distrust While a respondent’s level of education almost certainly contributes to this phenomenon, it is interesting... www.hsrcpress.ac.za Public opinion and attitudes often remain the yardstick against which interventions are made The collection which follows, in synthesising and analysing the results and findings of some key policy areas that have been investigated, will provide all stakeholders in South Africa with a set of factual information and derivative analytic insights Such a representation allows for informed choices... levels of publicity accorded to crime – in the cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the fact that the Free State has since the early 1990s experienced a high level of farm violence in the form of the killings of numerous white farm owners and/or family members Table 1.2 Violence statistics in SA by province Violent crime has increased since 1994 – province cross-tabulation % within province Province... the 3 PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICA Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za respondents Only 11% of respondents conceived of themselves in racial terms, and a further 15% through a linguistic lens This data then leads Ramutsindela to conclude, ‘the racial census approach neither provides insights into questions of voting behaviour in a new political environment nor illuminates continuities... governance in SA by race Satisfaction level Africans Coloureds Indians Whites Local area governance Dissatisfied 47,3 33,9 29,5 45,8 Satisfied 34,3 38,1 41,4 32,9 Provincial governance Dissatisfied 40,1 37,9 39,3 45,0 Satisfied 37,3 35,7 31,7 27,3 National governance Dissatisfied 38,0 44,2 57,3 68,3 Satisfied 43,0 31,0 17,8 13,0 Governance Locally, 32,9% of whites was ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’... celebrated as social capital in his pioneering work entitled 8 Free download from www.hsrcpress.ac.za Introduction: Public opinion and the prospects for democratic consolidation in SA Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy Social capital, the set of organisations, networks, norms and values that build trust and facilitate interactions within communities, is crucial since it constitutes the... It was divided into different topics and the duration of interviews of respondents was between 60 and 90 minutes A sample of 2 704 respondents was selected throughout South Africa in clusters of eight households situated in 338 primary sampling units (PSUs)/enumerator areas (EAs) as determined from the 1996 census In order to ensure adequate representation in the sample from each province and from each... rate of disapproval, which is perhaps indicative of their status as opposition provinces In connection with questions of government performance, dissatisfaction was particularly underscored by the question of crime in South Africa, with 75,3% of respondents answering that they felt ‘violent crime’ had increased since 1994 As the following figures demonstrate, this sentiment was strongest in provinces like . often remain the yardstick against which interventions are made. The collection which follows, in synthesising and analysing the results and findings of. be undertaken here. Readers interested in such an analysis within a particular issue area should refer 2 PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN CONTEMPORARY SOUTH AFRICA EC