Zuma’s approval levels reach all-time high: TNS

Johannesburg, Dec 8 (I-Net Bridge)   Although US President Obama’s approval ratings have fallen from his 100-day level of 68% to just below 50%, the same is not true of President Jacob Zuma, whose 100-day approval rating was 57% and is now at a new high of 58%. Zuma’s rating had dropped to 53% in September.

TNS Research Surveys says that in late June, 57% of the adult metro population felt that President Zuma was doing a good job as president. This represented a rise from the 52% who felt he would do a good job as president when they were interviewed in an identical study over the election period in April and a substantial rise from the 40% who felt he would do a good job as president when interviewed in February 2009 and from the 36% in a November 2008
study.

In September, 53% approved of President Zuma’s performance and 58% approved in November, his highest rating yet.

By comparison, former President Mbeki’s approval ratings were in the mid to low 30s from 1999 to 2002, only beginning to rise in 2003 before hitting a high of 66% in both 2004 and 2005. He ended his term on a rating of 34%.

“Attitudes are beginning to crystallise: the fence-sitters have begun to make up their minds,” said TNS.

The latest study shows that, whilst 23% of people feel he is NOT doing a good job, 19% gave a “don’t know” response.  This compares with 13% giving a negative response in June and 31% giving a “don’t know” response.  Hence, many people have moved from a wait-and-see attitude to either a positive or negative stance. This means that, while the simple approval levels have risen, the net sentiment (approve minus disapprove) is down since June.

This is against a background of the President’s visit to Zimbabwe in August, his new Zimbabwe task team’s first meetings in November, his nomination of the new Chief Justice on 1 October, his appointment of Mo Shaik as Head of the Intelligence Service on 2 October and the launch of the Presidential hotline on 7 October.

The TNS studies were conducted among a sample of 2,000 SA adults from the seven major metropolitan areas of South Africa, interviewing them face-to-face in their homes, with a margin of error of under 2.5% in June, September and November.
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