South Africa\u2019s ruling African National Congress is on course to secure just over half of the vote in next year\u2019s elections – its worst-ever result – a poll commissioned by the Institute of Race Relations showed.<\/p>\n
52% of 978 registered voters interviewed by phone between 22 August and 4 September said they would support the ANC, while 23% backed the Democratic Alliance and 13% the Economic Freedom Fighters, according to the poll, which was conducted by Victory Research on behalf of the Johannesburg-based research institute. The survey had a margin of error of 3%.<\/p>\n
Should the poll prove an accurate barometer of voter preferences, it would indicate the ANC has yet to recover from former President Jacob Zuma\u2019s scandal-marred rule, during which its share of the ballot plummeted to 54% in a 2016 municipal vote, from 62% in national elections two years earlier.<\/p>\n
The ruling party forced Zuma to step down in February and named Cyril Ramaphosa to succeed him.<\/p>\n
The survey showed that the EFF, which won 8% of the vote in 2016, has won over many disenchanted ANC supporters with its push to force the ruling party to adopt populist policies, such as expropriating land without compensation, said Gareth van Onselen, the SAIRR\u2019s head of politics and governance.<\/p>\n
“Alienated black ANC voters have responded to the EFF\u2019s ability to dominate ANC policy and, already favorable to the EFF, chosen to align with it rather than the ANC,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
“It means that the ANC\u2019s strategic decision to nullify the EFF by attempting to pander to and adopt its policies has backfired dramatically.”<\/p>\n
Ramaphosa said in an address in New York on Monday that the country would hold national elections before the end of May next year, and he expects the ANC to regain lost ground. The 106-year-old party has held power since the country\u2019s first multiracial elections in 1994.<\/p>\n
The SAIRR survey\u2019s other finding include:<\/p>\n