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It is not just the middle classes that have dumped the African National Congress (ANC). Polls conducted in July by The Common Sense in conjunction with the Social Research Foundation found that in its core constituencies the ANC is now below majority level.

Respondents were asked which party they would vote for if an election were held “today”.

This newspaper has already reported that overall ANC support has fallen to a near record low.

What will concern the ANC even more is that these losses are across the board and not only among the middle classes.

Among black voters, just 36% said they would vote for the ANC.

Among township voters, the figure was 32%.

Among the poorest voters, those with an income of less than R2 000 a month, the figure was 49%.

Among registered voters in traditional rural areas, the figure was 39%.

Put differently, even if only poor black people in deep rural areas voted, or if only township residents voted, the ANC could still not restore its national majority.

The chart below sets out the data.

It is widely known that the ANC has lost the urban middle classes and in established suburbia it is polling at just 3%. But it has also lost virtually every other voting constituency in the country.