Nearly Two Thirds of South Africans View Their Fellow Citizens as "Morally Good"

Sixty-three percent of South Africans view other South Africans as “morally good”.

This was a finding from the Pew Research Center, an American think tank that provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends, in the United States (US) and the world.

The survey, conducted last year, covered 25 countries and asked respondents to rate the morals and ethics of other people in their country. South Africa sits comfortably in the middle of the distribution. In South Africa 63% of respondents said they viewed the morals and ethics of their fellow citizens as good, while 36% said they viewed them as bad.

The US was the only country surveyed where more than half of respondents did not hold a positive view of their countryfolk. Forty-seven percent of Americans said they viewed the morals and ethics of others in their country as good, while 53% said they viewed them as bad.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was the US’s northern neighbour, Canada. Ninety-two percent of Canadians said the morals and ethics of other Canadians were good, with only 7% saying they were not.

The findings on South Africa reinforce a point often made here at The Common Sense. Despite the polarised tone of political debate, most South Africans still hold a broadly positive view of one another. When nearly two thirds of citizens believe their fellow countrymen are morally good, it suggests a level of underlying social trust that contradicts the narrative that the country is irreparably divided. Far from being a society constantly at each other’s throats, the data indicate that most South Africans still believe the people around them share basic moral values.