SOUTH AFRICA-POLITICS: MANDELA’S LEADERSHIP WINS PUBLIC NOD

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

ACCADOGA CHILEDI

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 14 1994 (IPS) - PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA’S LEADERSHIP HAS WON THE APPROVAL AND RESPECT OF SOUTH AFRICANS OF ALL RACES, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST SURVEY OF POLITICAL ATTITUDES IN THE COUNTRY.

“MANDELA HAS SEEMINGLY WON THE APPROVAL AND RESPECT OF THE MAJORITY OF SOUTH AFRICANS OF ALL RACES,” SAYS MARKINOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR MARI HARRIS, WHO CARRIED OUT THE SURVEY.

THE APPROVAL EXTENDED TO SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTIONS OF SOUTH AFRICANS, WHO ARE NOT MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (ANC), WHICH IS LEADING A GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY.

THE SURVEY, WHICH WAS CARRIED OUT IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, INTERVIEWED 1,000 BLACKS, 640 WHITES, 240 “COLOUREDS” (PEOPLE OF MIXED RACE) AND 120 SOUTH AFRICANS OF INDIAN ORIGIN IN THE METRO POLITICAL AREAS. ANOTHER 320 WHITES WERE INTERVIEWED IN NON-METROPOLITAN AREAS.

IN AN EVALUATION OF MAJOR POLITICIANS SIX MONTHS AFTER SOUTH AFRICA’S FIRST DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS IN APRIL, RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED TO RANK POLITICAL LEADERS ON A SCALE FROM ONE TO 10.

AMONG BLACK RESPONDENTS, DEPUTY PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI AND ANC SECRETARY-GENERAL CYRIL RAMAPHOSA WERE RANKED AT 7.4 AND 7.1, RESPECTIVELY.

SECOND DEPUTY PRESIDENT F.W. DE KLERK WON 4.5, WHILE MANDELA TOPPED THE LIST WITH 9.1. FOR WHITES, COLOUREDS AND INDIANS, DE KLERK CAME FIRST WITH BETWEEN 7.5 AND 6.6 AND MANDELA WAS A CLOSE SECOND.

THE 76-YEAR-OLD PRESIDENT, WHO WON A 4.3 WHITE NOD IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR, BOOSTED HIS POPULARITY TO 5.6, THE MARKINOR SURVEY SHOWS.

ABOUT 88 PERCENT OF BLACKS SAID THEY WOULD VOTE FOR THE ANC IF AN ELECTION WERE HELD TOMORROW. “EVEN IF FIRST AND SECOND CHOICE IS COMBINED, OTHER PARTIES BARELY FEATURE AMONG METROPOLITAN BLACKS,” SAYS HARRIS.

BLACKS CHOSE THE RADICAL PAN-AFRICANIST CONGRESS (PAC) AS THEIR SECOND FAVOURITE PARTY, WITH TOTAL POTENTIAL SUPPORT OF 16 PERCENT. THE NATIONAL PARTY (NP) CAME THIRD WITH A 12 PERCENT POTENTIAL SUPPORT.