{"id":97140,"date":"2025-04-16T13:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=97140"},"modified":"2025-04-16T13:29:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T11:29:01","slug":"da-surpasses-anc-in-voter-support-irr-poll-reveals-shift-in-south-african-political-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/da-surpasses-anc-in-voter-support-irr-poll-reveals-shift-in-south-african-political-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"DA Surpasses ANC in Voter Support, IRR Poll Reveals Shift in South African Political Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read<\/em>
\n16 April 2025 | 13:23 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

President Cyril Ramaphosa and DA leader John Steenhuisen. (Photos: Gallo Images \/ Jeffrey Abrahams | Gallo Images \/ OJ Koloti | Rawpixel)<\/p><\/div>\n

A recent poll by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) suggests a political shake-up, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) edging past the African National Congress (ANC) for the first time in IRR polling history. Conducted in the wake of the controversial VAT increase, the data reveals significant changes in voter sentiment, particularly on economic lines.<\/p>\n

According to Herman Pretorius from the IRR, \u201cThe DA is now sitting at 30.3 percent, while the ANC has dipped to 29.7 percent.\u201d This marks a critical moment, he notes, adding that \u201cthe DA seems to have managed to triple or almost quadruple their support from Black voters,\u201d with a notable increase from 5% to 18%.<\/p>\n

Pretorius attributes the shift to the party\u2019s alignment with economic concerns that resonate with the electorate, saying, \u201cIf bread and butter, tax, income, and socio-economic questions define our politics going forward, then the ANC is in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The IRR ensures its methodology is comprehensive. Of those polled, 37.1% came from tribal land, 30.3% from townships, and 22% were isiZulu speakers\u2014showcasing a balanced and representative sample. \u201cWe are confident our sample reflects the reality of South Africa,\u201d said Pretorius.<\/p>\n

Smaller parties like the EFF and MK have also seen a rise in support. \u201cAll three of the parties that opposed the VAT hike \u2013 DA, MK, and EFF \u2013 gained traction,\u201d he explained, suggesting a backlash against the ANC-led VAT increase. In contrast, GNU-aligned parties like the Patriotic Alliance and ISP saw a decline.<\/p>\n

Pretorius cautions that while polls reflect current sentiment, they are not predictions. \u201cIt\u2019s a snapshot of what the public was thinking at a specific time,\u201d he said, but he also pointed out that this trend has been building as economic frustrations mount.<\/p>\n

With economic performance historically tied to ANC support, the IRR\u2019s findings suggest that unless the ruling party addresses core economic concerns, it may continue to lose ground.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Herman Pretorius here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 16 April 2025 | 13:23 CAT A recent poll by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) suggests a political shake-up, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) edging past the African National Congress (ANC) for the first time in IRR polling history. Conducted in the wake of the controversial VAT increase, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":97141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot-2025-04-16-132543.jpg?fit=545%2C337&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-pgM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 10:55:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}