The Common Sense, in partnership with the Social Research Foundation, conducted polling in late February and early March 2026 asking registered South African voters which political party they most associate with the phrase "best at providing clean governance", regardless of whom they currently support.

The answers for both Johannesburg and the country as a whole are plotted on the chart below.

Nationally, 22.0% of respondents most associated the African National Congress (ANC) with clean governance, compared with 27.0% who most associated the Democratic Alliance (DA) with the phrase.

In Johannesburg, 10.0% of respondents most associated the ANC with clean governance, compared with 41.0% who most associated the DA with the phrase.

The perception that it provides clean governance is therefore one of the key advantages that the DA holds over the ANC.

The Common Sense has argued that the recent campaign around Tony Leon and Resolve Communications should be understood in this context: an attempt to equate the DA with state capture, in order to erode the extent to which the DA holds a clean-governance advantage over the ANC in the minds of voters.

*Figures are drawn from polling produced by The Common Sense in partnership with the Social Research Foundation. The poll was conducted between 20 February and 6 March 2026. The national sample included 2 222 respondents and carries a margin of error of ±4.0% once the design effect is included. The Johannesburg, Tshwane, and eThekwini samples included 503, 510, and 503 respondents, respectively, each carrying a margin of error of approximately ±8.0% once the design effect is included. Results in the metros should therefore be read with that wider margin of error in mind.