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The weight of public opinion in South Africa supports democracy, but this is being tested by frustration with how it is operating. This is evident from polling conducted by Afrobarometer, an initiative that has tracked attitudes across Africa for close to three decades.

South Africa has undergone 10 rounds of surveying by Afrobarometer, beginning in 2000.

Results for the latest round, conducted in 2025, show that 49% of South Africans believe democracy to be preferable to all other forms of government. This represents a rebound of the 40% who expressed this view in 2021 and the 43% in 2022, but is substantially below the levels recorded in the early years of the century, when support routinely stood at over two-thirds. In 2011, the proportion of South Africans who believed democracy was preferable to all other forms of government was 72%.

Some 61% supported elections as the best way to choose leaders, and clear majorities opposed one-person and one-party rule (62% and 56%, respectively).

However, fewer than a third of South Africans (29%) expressed satisfaction with the functioning of democracy, against 70% who were dissatisfied with this. This was a catastrophic reversal of the situation in 2011, when 60% were broadly satisfied with the way the country’s democracy worked, against 39% who were not.

Only 31% described South Africa as a full democracy or a democracy with minor problems. More than double this proportion, 68%, said that South Africa was not a democracy or a democracy with major problems.

There has also been an escalation over the years of support for non-democratic rule. Around 39% thought that non-democratic means of choosing leaders might be preferable. There was also a growing acceptance of the principle of military rule. The army was one of the country’s most trusted institutions, according to Afrobarometer, and 49% of South Africans indicated they might support military government.

These results suggest a population experiencing severe discontent at what it sees as the failures of their political system.

A wealth of survey evidence stretching back into the 1990s has shown that South Africans are primarily concerned with their living standards and life opportunities. Optimism about democracy has closely followed progress in these areas. High levels of unemployment, and disillusionment with government as a result of high-profile corruption cases and inadequate service delivery, have also undermined confidence.

This underlines the importance, for South Africa’s democratic resilience, of instituting policy and governance reforms that will create economic growth and generate employment.