More than two-thirds of young South Africans believe President Jacob Zuma should step down in the wake of the Nkandla saga, a Pondering Panda survey has revealed.
"It's clear that Nkandla is a huge political issue among young South Africans, with more than two-thirds feeling Zuma should step down because of it," spokeswoman Shirley Wakefield said in a statement on Thursday.
The results were drawn from a cellphone survey of 2114 respondents, aged between 18 and 34, who claimed to be aware of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's report on the R246 million security upgrades at Zuma's private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.
In her report "Secure in Comfort", Madonsela found Zuma and his family unduly benefited from the upgrades. She recommended that a percentage of the money be repaid.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents in the survey believed Zuma should step down because of the Nkandla matter, compared to 26 percent who believed he should remain president. Six percent were undecided.
By racial group, 65 percent of black respondents wanted Zuma to resign, compared to 81 percent of coloureds and 77 percent of whites.
There were no significant differences in opinion between age categories or male and female respondents.
KwaZulu-Natal was the only province where those polled were more likely to believe Zuma should remain president, despite the Nkandla controversy, at 48 percent.
In other provinces at least 70 percent said they believed Zuma should step down. This view was most strongly held in the Western Cape, where 83 percent believed Zuma should resign.
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