National survey data from the Social Research Foundation, conducted in April 2024, shows that most South Africans want the government to abandon race-based rules for hiring and procurement in favour of merit, fairness, and individual choice.

This finding contrasts sharply with comments made by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday following an African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. “The NEC reaffirmed our commitment to broad-based black economic empowerment to ensure that we correct the injustices of our past and end the inequality of the present moment,” he said.

Yet the data indicates that the public no longer supports this position.

On procurement, a majority of 63.0% strongly supported tender rules based solely on merit and price, while 24.6% strongly supported reserving government contracts for black-owned firms. Among ANC voters, 52.3% strongly backed merit-based procurement compared to 37.4% who favoured race-based rules.

The same pattern emerged for civil service appointments, 68.1% of respondents strongly supported ending race-based rules so that officials are hired strictly on merit. Only 20.7% strongly backed stricter rules mandating race-based appointments. Among black respondents, 61.6% strongly favoured merit-based hiring, while just 26.4% strongly supported exclusively black appointments.

These findings reveal a growing gap between the governing party’s ideological and policy commitments and the public’s priorities and values. While the ANC continues to frame economic empowerment in racial terms, most South Africans are thinking in terms of pragmatism and results.