ANC’s “Anti-Poor” Brand Problem Extends Into Its Own Voter Base

A survey conducted by the Social Research Foundation late last year* posed a blunt reputational question to voters: “Anti-poor. Which political party do you associate most strongly with this word or phrase?” The results point to a growing, politically dangerous, problem for the African National Congress (ANC).

Among all voters, the ANC ranked first. Some 26% of respondents said the phrase “anti-poor” best describes the governing party. No other party came close. The Democratic Alliance (DA) followed at 15%, with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) at 14%. While negative labels are common in contested politics, the significance here is that the ANC is most strongly associated with a term that cuts directly against its founding claim to govern on behalf of the poor.

The damage deepens when the results are broken down by voter group. Among black voters, the ANC again tops the list. About 26% of black respondents associate the term “anti-poor” most strongly with the ANC. The EFF follows at 18%, the DA and uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) are both at 10%, and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) at 6%. This matters because black voters remain the ANC’s core electoral constituency. When more than a quarter of that group assigns this label to it, it reflects dissatisfaction rooted in lived experience rather than opposition rhetoric.

Most striking, however, is what ANC voters themselves say.

Among self-identified ANC supporters, 38% associate the phrase “anti-poor” with the ANC. No other party comes close. The DA registers 6%, the EFF 13%, and the MKP and IFP 4% each. In other words, more than a third of ANC voters accept a description of their own party that directly contradicts its moral and political self-image.

That finding represents a qualitative shift. Voters outside the ANC labelling the party anti-poor is damaging but perhaps expected. ANC voters doing so points to internalised disillusionment. It suggests that loyalty is no longer anchored in the belief that the party governs in the interests of the poor, but is instead sustained by weaker ties such as habit, history, or the absence of (in the eyes of ANC voters) acceptable alternatives.

Frans Cronje told The Common Sense that “This is very different to the position of 30, 20, and even 15 years ago when the ANC materially delivered on its electoral slogan of ‘a better life for all’. This made it South Africa’s most powerful political brand for the reason that it delivered on investment, growth, and job creation to a far greater extent than its critics appreciated.”

Cronje said “Between 1994 and 2008, for example, the ANC in government presided over a near doubling of the number of people in employment as fixed investment levels rose, and economic growth rose, to reach emerging market averages. Under Jacob Zuma, and later Cyril Ramaphosa, fixed investment levels have remained at half the emerging market average, whilst economic growth rates sat at around a quarter of what was achieved under presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki.”

The poll data pattern across all voters, black voters, and ANC voters tells a consistent story. Responsibility for economic hardship is being assigned to the party that has been in power for over three decades. A very high unemployment rate, a fall in real per-capita GDP, high living costs, deteriorating public services, failing municipalities, and collapsing infrastructure are not being interpreted as temporary setbacks or inherited problems. They are being read as outcomes produced by ANC governance itself.

This explains why the ANC’s go-to defence, that it remains pro-poor in intent even when delivery falters, is losing traction. Voters appear to be collapsing the distinction between intention and outcome. In that frame, policy language, social spending figures, and redistributive rhetoric matter less than whether households feel materially better or worse off.

For the ANC, this is a deeper problem than declining vote share. It is a brand erosion problem. Once a party like the ANC is widely perceived as anti-poor, future promises lose credibility. Announcements about grants, infrastructure plans, or industrial strategies are filtered through scepticism. Trust is harder to rebuild than support.

The ANC’s increasing reliance on historical symbolism and liberation credentials makes little sense in this context. When present-day, material, on-the-ground economic performance fails, leaning on its legacy is unlikely to do much to restore confidence in the party.

Read plainly, the poll data says the ANC is losing control of South Africa’s most important narrative - how to improve the lives of its citizens. Being criticised is survivable. Being labelled anti-poor by a significant share of its own voters is something else entirely, and the party may not be able to recover.

*The Social Research Foundation’s Q4 2025 Market Survey was commissioned by the Foundation and conducted by Victory Research among 1 002 registered voters between 27 October and 14 November 2025 using telephonic CATI interviews. A single-frame random digit-dialling design was used, drawing from all possible South African mobile numbers to ensure that every number had an equal probability of selection, with national sim card penetration exceeding 250%, more than 90% of adults owning a phone, and mobile networks covering 99.8% of the population, giving universal practical coverage. The sample was fully weighted to match the national registered voter population across all key demographics, including language, age, race, gender, education, income, and urban or rural location. Turnout modelling assigned each respondent a probability of voting based on questions measuring their likelihood of participation, with the primary turnout model set at 52.8%. The poll carries a 4.0% margin of error at a 95% confidence level, with a design effect of 1.762.