EXCLUSIVE: ANC Supporters Back the GNU

A new poll* from the Social Research Foundation shows that the Government of National Unity (GNU) continues to enjoy firm backing among African National Congress (ANC) supporters, underscoring how the arrangement has settled into the country’s political landscape.

The survey, conducted last month, asked ANC voters whether they believed the GNU was working well or working poorly.

Half of respondents said the GNU was working well, while 23% believed it was performing poorly. The rest were unsure. This means that among ANC supporters who hold a view on the matter, roughly two-thirds think the GNU is functioning effectively.

This level of support signals that ANC voters see value in the coalition’s stability and the co-operation it has brought to national politics.

The poll also tested perceptions of how the ANC itself is performing within the GNU. Here again, the numbers tilt strongly in the party’s favour. Sixty-four percent of respondents felt the ANC was doing a good job inside the unity government, compared to 14% who believed it was performing badly. The remaining 22% were undecided or declined to answer. These results indicate that the party’s supporters are largely comfortable with its role and believe it is navigating the coalition responsibly.

Marius Roodt, deputy editor of The Common Sense, said the findings confirm that the GNU has become a broadly supported governing model. He noted that parties inside the arrangement would have to weigh any talk of withdrawal carefully, as the public mood is clearly in favour of co-operation. Roodt said the GNU enjoys wide backing among voters and warned that parties that choose to exit could face electoral consequences, with the possibility of a backlash at the ballot box if they abandon the arrangement.

*The Social Research Foundation’s Q4 2025 Market Survey was commissioned by the Foundation and conducted by Victory Research among 1 002 registered voters between 27 October and 14 November 2025 using telephonic CATI interviews. A single-frame random digit-dialling design was used, drawing from all possible South African mobile numbers to ensure that every number had an equal probability of selection, with national sim card penetration exceeding 250%, more than 90% of adults owning a phone, and mobile networks covering 99.8% of the population, giving universal practical coverage. The sample was fully weighted to match the national registered voter population across all key demographics, including language, age, race, gender, education, income, and urban or rural location. Turnout modelling assigned each respondent a probability of voting based on questions measuring their likelihood of participation, with the primary turnout model set at 52.8%. The poll carries a 4.0% margin of error at a 95% confidence level, with a design effect of 1.762.