Ramaphosa Still Most Popular Politician in South Africa – Survey

President Cyril Ramaphosa is still the most popular politician in South Africa, and his approval rating is significantly higher than that of the party he leads, the African National Congress (ANC).

This is according to a survey conducted by the Social Research Foundation last month.*

Thirty-eight percent of respondents had a favourable view of Ramaphosa while only 27% had a favourable view of the ANC.

The two politicians with the highest favourability ratings after Ramaphosa were both from the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Twenty-nine percent of respondents had a favourable view of senior DA figure, Helen Zille. She is the party’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg in the next local government elections, likely to be held about a year from now. Twenty-six percent of respondents had a favourable view of DA leader John Steenhuisen.

Paul Mashatile, Ramaphosa’s deputy, fared poorly, with only 10% of respondents saying they had a favourable view of him. Respondents were also asked for their views on two other senior ANC figures, secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and minister of electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Eighteen percent of respondents had a favourable view of Mbalula and 16% had a favourable view of Ramokgopa.

People were also asked for their views on the leaders of the two biggest parties that are not part of the Government of National Unity, Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters and Jacob Zuma of the uMkhonto weSizwe Party.

Twenty percent of respondents had a favourable view of Malema and 21% had a favourable view of Zuma.

Ramaphosa remains an important electoral asset for the ANC and, should he step down as party president in 2027, as is expected, the party could find itself under severe pressure to hold onto its current vote share in the next election, likely to be held in 2029.

*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.