Last week, the Democratic Alliance (DA) proposed a new empowerment policy framework for the country that it has called the Economic Inclusion for All Bill. The Bill would replace race with poverty as a proxy for disadvantage and stress value for money above race in state procurement decisions.

The plan met with a surprising degree of support this week and very little resistance. Social Research Foundation (SRF) polling suggests that part of the reason is that the broad idea behind the plan resonates well with public opinion.

The SRF has found that 87% of voters agree with the statement that the government should appoint the best candidates to jobs regardless of their race. This is not a narrow constituency view but a national one, with 84% of black respondents and ANC voters agreeing.

Procurement sentiment points in the same direction, with 86% of voters agreeing that when the state buys goods or services, it should buy the best at the best price regardless of the race of the service provider.

Some 74% support the idea that the Government of National Unity gets rid of race-based appointments so that all officials are appointed only on merit, versus 23% who support continued or stricter race-based rules. Some 64% of African National Congress (ANC) voters back the merit option strongly, confirming that support for a non-race framework is not confined to the DA or minority blocs.

Some 71% chose getting rid of race-based procurement so that all tenders are issued only on merit, while just over a quarter preferred stricter race-based tendering. Among ANC voters, 61% chose the merit path compared to 28% who preferred continued or stricter race-based procurement laws.

Perhaps the most important SRF data insight is that voters separate compliance symbolism from real outcomes. Nearly eight-in-ten voters, for example, agree that a business should be allowed to operate even if it is not BEE compliant, as long as it pays tax and creates jobs.

Broader economic preferences reinforce the same policy pivot. The SRF has, for example, found that nearly eight-in-ten voters say labour laws should be relaxed so that more people can find work. That appetite for flexibility dovetails with removing race rules that slow hiring and distort incentives, especially in entry-level markets where unemployment is most severe.

A very dangerous moment for a political party is when it gets overtaken by its voters in terms of the ideas and policies they would entertain. The ANC has now reached that point, where the party leadership clings to archaic and discredited ideas even as its own voters move beyond them.

Pierneef was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters.