South Africans are divided over whether the Government of National Unity (GNU) is delivering results, according to new findings from Afrobarometer. The continental research network’s latest survey shows that 40% of citizens believe the GNU is effectively addressing the country’s most pressing challenges, while 38% say it is failing to do so.

Data from the Social Research Foundation (SRF) made what was essentially the same finding on the performance on the GNU. In February 2025 the SRF found that 48% of respondents thought the GNU was performing well or very well, against 27% who felt it was performing poorly or very poorly.

The Afrobarometer survey, conducted between June and July 2025 among 1 600 adults, paints a sobering picture of public faith in the democratic project itself. Fewer than half of respondents, 49%, said democracy is preferable to any other form of government, though that marks a modest recovery from a historic low of 40% recorded in 2021.

In a striking shift, support for military rule has surged to its highest level in more than two decades. Nearly half of respondents, 49%, said they would approve of army rule, up from just 28% in 2022, while only 42% opposed it.

Respondents were also asked what they thought the biggest issues in South Africa were. Unemployment topped the list of concerns, cited by 55%, followed by crime and security at 35%, water supply at 31%, infrastructure and roads at 28%, and corruption at 21%.

While at first glance the proportions of South Africans – in both the SRF and Afrobarometer data – who believe the GNU is performing well may seem low, it should be remembered that at any given moment in most countries people will be relatively dissatisfied with their governments. Approval ratings for sitting governments in democracies around the world are often poor and the fact that the effective approval rating of the GNU, as shown by these surveys, is positive (with more people approving of the GNU’s performance than disapproving of it) is a strong sign for the popularity of the arrangement.

Frans Cronje told The Common Sense that there was more to the findings around the proportions of people who would prefer military rule than was clear at first glance. “When people are asked if they would prefer military rule they associate that idea with order in society what they're therefore saying is they want order and efficiency in government, more than that they want a literal military junta to run the state. Data on faith in democracy actually remains very strong in South Africa,” Cronje said.