Urban blacks lose confidence in Zuma

FOR the first time, a majority of black middle-class South Africans believe Jacob Zuma is not doing a good job as president.

FOR the first time, a majority of black middle-class South Africans believe Jacob Zuma is not doing a good job as president.

Market research company TNS found that Zuma's performance approval rating has dropped significantly to its lowest point among blacks in major urban areas.

The survey - given exclusively to Sunday Times - was conducted before the Constitutional Court found this week that Zuma had violated the constitution in failing to take the remedial action sought by the public protector over Nkandla.

In February, 2000 adults living in seven major metropolitan areas were surveyed and the results showed a shift in opinion among black people for the first time since Zuma was elected in 2009.

"Although the ratings have dropped across all race groups, the results show a marked shift by black respondents in their approval of the president, dropping from 43% in March 2015 to 27% in February 2016, with 59% stating that the president is not doing a good job and 14% stating 'don't know'," said TNS director of public affairs Amien Ahmed.

He said black opinion about whether Zuma was doing a good job was usually stable. However, "[black people] are finding an expression that we are not happy", Ahmed said.

The survey found that in line with previous trends, Zulu speakers are more likely to agree that Zuma is doing a good job, but the results show that this sentiment has dropped substantially from an average of 58% last year to a low of 33% in 2016.

Zuma spokesman Bongani Majola dismissed the TNS survey. "The most credible and reliable barometer of citizens' support and preferences remains our local as well as provincial and national elections ... Any other 'survey' of our people is too limited, unreliable and far from credible, as successive election results have borne out," he said.

Overall, the survey found that only 21% of South Africans living in metro areas believe Zuma is doing a good job as president. In March last year, his approval rating stood at 33%.

TNS has been measuring attitudes to Zuma since his inauguration as president.

He has the lowest approval rating among coloured people, at 3%, followed by white people at 9%.

"Older people are more likely to state that Zuma is not doing a good job as president [74% of people 50 years and older versus 62% aged 25 to 34]. The overall level of disapproval has, however, risen in the current survey from 56% in March 2015 to 67% in February 2016," Ahmed said.