Nearly two-thirds of South Africans say that the race of the head of the country doesn’t bother them and they would support the person who they thought was the best candidate.

This is according to polling conducted by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), a think tank based in Johannesburg.

The following statement was put to respondents: “Think about the kind of person you would support to become the next president of South Africa.” Respondents were then given three options. These were:

• •“Support the best person, regardless of race”
• •“Will only support a black person”
• •“Prefer a black person, but open to others”

Sixty-six percent of respondents chose the first option, 23% chose the second option, and 11% chose the third option.

The survey was conducted telephonically in March with 1 038 respondents and had a margin of error of 3%.

This matches with recent polling conducted by the Social Research Foundation (SRF), in conjunction with The Common Sense. Most South Africans are not radical but are pragmatic and are not obsessed with race to the degree some political parties and some in the legacy media would like people to believe. Latest SRF/The Common Sense polling found that nearly two-thirds of South Africans supported a reform of black economic empowerment so that there would be a focus on actual disadvantage, rather than race.

In earlier polling conducted by the SRF towards the end of last year, nearly three-quarters of respondents said that the primary consideration for public procurement of goods and services should be the cost, and not the race of the service provider.

Hermann Pretorius, head of strategic communications at the IRR and author of the Institute’s 2026 polling report, which is being released tomorrow, said: “Years of IRR polling have continuously affirmed the moderate racial views of ordinary South Africans.

“Yet, the finding that 66% of South Africans consider the race of the head of state and of government essentially irrelevant goes beyond the consistent moderate meritocratic preference of ordinary people. The president is not merely a valued service provider, but in their own right a national symbol – the country’s most important representative to the world. That is the function of a head of state. That the race of this office holder is of markedly less importance than their competence reveals how fundamentally out of touch not merely race-based politics is, but the very idea that South Africans view the country’s identity through a racial lens,” Pretorius said.

“Apartheid and anti-apartheid opinion and forces shaped, and through the politics of particularly the ANC’s messaging continue to shape, South Africa’s national character to the outside world. Those looking at the country from outside see South African identity as primarily race-based. Yet, the finding that ordinary South Africans reject the idea of a race-determined head of state shows that we do not view our national identity through a simplistic and reductionist racial lens," Pretorius said.