EXCLUSIVE: GNU Performance gets Seal of Approval From South Africans

A significantly stronger proportion of voters believe the Government of National Unity (GNU) is performing well relative to those that do not believe it is delivering results. Majorities of African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) voters hold this opinion.

This is according to a new poll* conducted by the Social Research Foundation. The poll surveyed 1 002 registered voters, was conducted telephonically this month, and had a margin of error of 4%.

Nearly half of all voters – 49% – believe that the GNU is performing well with 35% believing it is performing poorly.

Under 20% of respondents were undecided.

This effectively means that for every three respondents who believe the GNU is doing poorly, five believe it is doing well.

Broken down by party support, ANC and DA voters both felt that the GNU was performing well.

Exactly half of ANC voters said they thought the GNU was doing a good job. Of ANC voters, 23% believed it was doing poorly, and 27% were undecided. This means that of ANC voters who have an opinion on the GNU, nearly two-thirds believe the GNU is doing a good job.

The proportion of DA voters who thought the GNU was delivering results was 56% against 33% who believed it was not. As in the case of the ANC amongst voters who have made up their minds, a strong majority believe that the GNU is delivering results.

Amongst uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) supporters 43% said it was working well, with 33% saying it was not working well, with the rest undecided.

This shows that even amongst MK supporters, of those who have made up their minds about GNU performance, a majority believe it is performing well.

However, in the Economic Freedom Fighters camp, 42% thought the GNU was performing well compared to 55% who said it was performing poorly.

Amongst black respondents, 49% thought the GNU was working well against 30% who thought it was doing poorly. The proportion of coloured respondents that gave the GNU the thumbs up was 52% and those that gave it a thumbs down was 39%. Fifty percent of white respondents approved of the work that the GNU was doing against 43% having the opposite opinion. It was only amongst Indian respondents where there were more people who thought the GNU was doing poorly than it was doing well, for every three Indian respondents who thought the GNU was doing well there were five who thought it was doing poorly.

Marius Roodt, deputy editor of The Common Sense, said that these perceptions among respondents had a basis in reality.

“Since the GNU was formed in the middle of last year, there have been a number of real successes. These include the reversal of the VAT hike, reform of port and rail, and the decision to reverse course on the National Health Insurance scheme. The ANC also seems increasingly willing to discuss reform of black economic empowerment policies, mainly as a result of pressure from its GNU partner, the DA,” Roodt said.

He continued: “There are a number of other green shoots that are emerging in South Africa, which are primarily thanks to the efforts of the GNU. These include the strengthening of the rand, South Africa getting off the international financial grey list, the very strong performance of the country’s stock market since the GNU was formed, and the recent credit ratings upgrade.”

However, he cautioned that it was vital to continue the momentum of these reforms, which would be key to boosting economic growth, which was the only sustainable way to create jobs and lift South Africans out of poverty.

*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.