New polling* from The Common Sense and the Social Research Foundation shows the sense that life has improved under the Government of National Unity sits with the governing party's own supporters and not with its partner's. African National Congress (ANC) voters are about three times as likely as Democratic Alliance (DA) voters to say their standard of living has got better, a gap of 26 points. Among DA voters, and among uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) voters whose party is outside the government, roughly three times as many say life has got worse as say it has got better. ANC voters are the only group on the chart not clearly negative, and even they are divided. Two years in, the arrangement has delivered a sense of improvement to one constituency and left its partner's voters cold. The chart below shows the share of each party's voters who say their standard of living has got better and the share who say it has got worse. The full numbers are set out here.

* The Social Research Foundation’s Q2 2026 Market Survey was conducted in conjunction with The Common Sense and carried out by Victory Research among 2 214 registered voters between 8 and 31 July 2026 using telephonic CATI interviews. National results are based on the full sample of 2 214 respondents. Metro results are based on samples of 504 respondents in Johannesburg, 508 in Tshwane, and 500 in eThekwini. 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. National SIM card penetration exceeds 250.0%, more than 90.0% of adults own a phone, and mobile networks cover 99.8% of the population, providing universal practical coverage. The samples were fully weighted to match the relevant registered voter populations 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 56.0%. The national results carry a margin of error of 2.1% at a 95.0% confidence level, while the Johannesburg, Tshwane, and eThekwini results each carry a margin of error of 4.4%. The survey has a design effect of 3.7938.