Survey results tell if South Africans think taxpayers should pay for Nkandla

More than 4 in 10 (42%) South African adults feel that taxpayers should not pay for President Jacob Zuma's Nkandla homestead, a survey has shown.

In October last year, 3,617 people were asked to agree or disagree with the statement “President Jacob Zuma is entitled to a private home regardless of the cost to taxpayers”, marketing research company Ipsos spokesperson Kate Slade said on Tuesday.

When the survey was done in April/May last year, 37% of respondents said taxpayers should not pay.

People in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga (both 47%) and North West (42%) were the most supportive of taxpayers funding Nkandla.

The provinces with the strongest negative reactions were the Northern Cape (66%), Western Cape (65%) and the Free State (55%). 

When broken down by political party allegiance, the results showed 67% of Democratic Alliance supporters and 56% of Economic Freedom Fighters supporters were against taxpayers funding Nkandla.

Only 34% of African National Congress supporters felt the same way.

About 41% of ANC supporters believed that Zuma’s private residence should be paid by taxes, the survey showed.

Source: News24