4 min read
27 September
21:45

A recent survey titled “It takes two to Toyi – Toyi” by Afrobarometer has revealed that South Africa’s level of trust towards President Cyril Ramaphosa has dropped compared to that of the former president, Jacob Zuma era. The survey shows that this attributed to mistrust of voters toward the president disappointing given that people had high expectations of him when he took office in 2019.

Radio Islam International spoke with an independent writer, researcher, lecturer, and political activist, Dale T. McKinley. According to McKinley, surveys are unpredictable, unreliable, and inaccurate, and the Afrobarometer is known for its primarily wrong surveys.

However, he said he does not dispute the survey at hand.

McKinley said that the impact and damage to the Phala Phala on Ramaphosas’ reputation could not be ignored.

“It is clear the Phala Phala saga has negatively affected the president, and the COVID-19 pandemic and load shedding has impacted badly on him as well,” he said.

He said that the public’s opinion of him differs from that of political opinion.

He said politically, he probably has the majority support, although it is being contested vigorously. But he needs a miracle to gain the people’s trust.

“He needs some good victories or at least something good to happen to redeem himself,” said McKinley.

He said there is no doubt that people associate the president of the country with the ANC as a party, which might impact the polls on the upcoming December conference.

He said the ANC Government only worries about itself and getting into positions and power, not the people. It is disappointing that people had expected him to move beyond that and do better, but he has proven consistent with the ANC’s history.

[LISTEN] to the podcast here

By Nokwanda Dlangamandla
kzn@radioislam.org.za