This is a paid article which your subscription is allowing you to read.

Only about 10% of people in eThekwini (Durban) have a favourable view of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

This is according to a poll* conducted in February and March by the Social Research Foundation in conjunction with The Common Sense.

Voters were asked how they felt about leading politicians in South Africa.

In eThekwini, only 11% of respondents had a favourable impression of Ramaphosa, with 20% being neutral towards him, and 66% having an unfavourable impression.

Fifteen percent of voters were favourable to the leader of the Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in the national unity government, John Steenhuisen, with 10% unfavourable, and 18% neutral or unsure. A relatively large proportion, 59%, were too unfamiliar with him to have a view.

The proportion of voters who were favourable to Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters, was 21%. Twenty-six percent were unsure or neutral, with 53% viewing him unfavourably.

Jacob Zuma, the leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), which is leading in polls in eThekwini had, unsurprisingly, high favourability ratings. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed had a favourable view of him, with 19% being unsure or neutral. However, 25% had an unfavourable view of him, showing that he is a fairly polarising figure.

The MKP is likely to be the single-biggest party in most municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, including eThekwini, after the next local government elections, likely to be held towards the end of the year. However, it remains to be seen how well the party will govern, whether in coalition or alone. In addition, it is not clear how much momentum the party will have once Zuma is not as active in politics as he is now.

*The Social Research Foundation Q1 2026 Market Survey was commissioned by the Social Research Foundation supported by The Common Sense and conducted by Victory Research using a nationally representative telephonic CATI survey of registered voters (N=2,222), with metro samples upsized to over 500 respondents each in Johannesburg (n=503), Tshwane (n=510), and eThekwini (n=503). Fieldwork was conducted between 16 February 2026 and 6 March 2026 using a single-frame random digit dialling sampling design that draws from all possible South African mobile numbers, ensuring equal probability of selection and near-universal coverage given SIM penetration above 250%, more than 90% adult phone ownership, and mobile network coverage of 99.8% of the population. Respondents were screened to include registered voters only, and turnout modelling assigned each respondent a probability of voting based on likelihood indicators, with the primary model assuming turnout of 56.0%. Data were weighted to ensure the national sample reflects the demographic profile of the registered voter population across language, age, race, gender, location (urban/rural), education, and income, while metro samples were weighted to the demographic composition of voters in each metro. Results are reported at a 95% confidence level with a design effect (DEFF) of 1.762, producing margins of error of 2.1% nationally and 4.4% for each metro sample.