The EFF has questioned the credibility of a recent poll by the Brenthurst Foundation which indicates that the DA is a hit with the voters and the ANC and the EFF will suffer in the upcoming elections.
This comes after the survey revealed that with voter turnout at 66%, ANC support is set to decline to 39% in the upcoming elections.
According to the latest survey, the ANC will lose most of its voters to the recently launched Umkhonto we Sizwe party led by former president Jacob Zuma.
The study by the Brenthurst Foundation and SABI Strategy Group has revealed the ANC’s vote share will fall below 40% for the first time since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
The poll has also suggested the likelihood of a coalition government emerging after the May 29 elections.
The ANC’s support has decreased to 39%, down from 41% and 44% in polls conducted in October last year and November 2022 respectively.
Some of the contributing factors, according to the foundation, include the Eskom crisis, high levels of crime and unemployment, and the collapse of state infrastructure.
“We are heading for a transition away from one-party dominance, which can only be good for democracy, policy competitiveness, delivery and accountability,” Brenthurst Foundation director Greg Mills said.
The foundation’s estimation of the ANC’s support has become the latest in a series of polls concluded recently. This is despite the ANC having hosted a successful manifesto launch at Moses Mabhida Stadium last month.
With a 66% turnout, and a 3% margin of error, the DA is banking on this poll in a bid to bring change to South Africa.
According to the poll, the ANC will garner 39% (-18) of the vote, the DA will grow its support to 27% (+7), while the EFF will bleed voters with a 10% (-1) share of the votes. Zuma’s MK party is likely to get 13% (+13).
In Gauteng, the ANC is set to win 34% (-16) of the vote, while the DA will get 32% (+5), the EFF 11% (-3), and MK 6% (+6).
In KwaZulu-Natal, the poll says MK will make its mark most clearly, with a 25% (+25) share of the provincial vote. The ANC will garner 20% (-34), the DA 19% (+5), the IFP 19% (+3), and the EFF 14% (+4).
Reacting to the poll, the DA’s KZN leader Christopher Pappas welcomed the findings, saying they confirmed the growth of the DA.
“In the recent poll by the Brenthurst Foundation, the DA has (shown) growth, while other parties – except the MK party – have declined. This is great news for the rational centre of South African politics. In only 80 days, we go to the polls to rescue KZN,” he said.
Another DA leader, Leon Schreiber, said the party continued to be the favourite party among SA voters, with its leader John Steenhuisen also a hit with South Africans.
“The DA is now the party viewed most favourably by South African voters. Its net favourability score (the number of people who have a positive view minus those who have a negative view) has increased by a full 15 percentage points in 15 months. All other parties declined.
“Steenhuisen is now the second most popular political leader in South Africa. Steenhuisen’s net favourability increased by four points over 15 months, while Ramaphosa’s fell by 10 points – and nearly all other party leaders’ ratings declined,” said Schreiber.
Attempts to get comment from both the ANC and the MK Party were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
However, EFF spokesperson, Sinawo Thambo, disputed the credibility of the poll, saying they are sponsored by the Oppenheimers.
“That any media house would present the poll findings of an Oppenheimer institute as credible is irresponsible. The Oppenheimers have been giving millions to the DA, ActionSA and Rise Mzansi, and by no surprise, their poll projects growth of the parties they fund. The Oppenheimers are manufacturing false information on the elections and our media is delivering it as something credible,” Thambo said.
The Star