55% say government is doing well in Uniting All South Africans into one Nation

Just over a half of the South African population believe that our government is doing well in the effort to unite all South Africans into one nation. These are some of the prominent findings from a Pulse of the People survey conducted by Ipsos during March and April 2014. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a randomly selected representative sample of 3730 adult South Africans from all walks of life.  

Looking across demographic groups, those most impressed with government’s efforts to unite South Africans comes from the youngest age group – those aged between 15 and 17 years – 67% of which believe that government is doing a good job. Lowest levels of agreement come from the white and coloured population groups, with low levels of agreement – 28% and 30% respectively.

Related to this, respondents were also asked wither they believed that the government is governing in the interests of all South Africans. This question also yielded a relatively low agreement level, with less than half of the population (47%) believing that government had everyone’s best interests at heart.  Again, lowest levels of agreement came from the coloured and white groups of South Africa – with only 17% of whites agreeing and 23% of coloureds agreeing with the statement.

Importance of the Mother tongue

Over two-thirds of South Africans believe that children have the right to be educated in their own language.  The level of agreement with this statement varies across language groups, with highest levels coming from English and Afrikaans speaking people and lowest coming from other African languages.

 

 

Proud to be South African?

A significant proportion (73%) of South Africans agrees with the statement that they are happy to be South African. This is especially pronounced in the younger age groups with 78% of 15 – 17 year olds agreeing with the statement and 77% of 18-24 year olds.

Only 9% of the population actually disagree with the statement that they are Proud to be South African.

Technical detail:

A total of 3730 personal face-to-face interviews were conducted with randomly selected adult South Africans. The interviews were done in the homes and home languages of respondents. Trained quantitative fieldworkers from all population groups were responsible for the interviewing, which took place from March – April 2014. This methodology ensured that the results are representative of the views of the universe and that findings can be weighted and projected to the universe – i.e. adult South Africans (over 15 years of age).

Interviews were done using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) and all results were collated and analysed in an aggregate format to protect the identity and confidentiality of respondents.

All sample surveys are subject to a margin of error, determined by sample size, sampling methodology and response rate. The sample error for the sample as a whole at a 95% confidence level is a maximum of 1,67.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks third in the global research industry.

With offices in 86 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1,712,4 million (2 274 M$) in 2013.

Visit www.ipsos.co.za to learn more about Ipsos’ offerings and capabilities.