(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in South Africa hold positive views on the performance of Jacob Zuma, according to a poll by TNS Research Surveys. 57 per cent of respondents think the president is doing a good job.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in South Africa hold positive views on the performance of Jacob Zuma, according to a poll by TNS Research Surveys. 57 per cent of respondents think the president is doing a good job.
Thabo Mbeki replaced Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s president after the 1999 general election, where the African National Congress (ANC) received 66.4 per cent of the vote. Mbeki led the ANC to a second majority government in April 2004.
In December 2007, Zuma defeated Mbeki in an internal leadership ballot and became the new leader of the ANC. In January 2008, Zuma was named as the ANC’s presidential candidate.
The rivalry between Zuma and Mbeki brought the ANC to a major crisis. In September 2008, a High Court judge dismissed corruption charges that had been laid against Zuma and accused the Mbeki administration of influencing the prosecution of the accused. On Sept. 21, following the country’s ruling favouring Zuma, Mbeki tendered his resignation as president.
In late September 2008, lawmakers elected ANC deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe—a former labour leader and former member of the military wing of the party—to replace Mbeki as president. Motlanthe is a close Zuma ally.
In the April general election, the ANC won 65.90 per cent of the vote and 264 seats—15 less than in the 2005 ballot. Zuma was sworn in as South Africa’s president in May.
One of Zuma’s election pledges was to create 500,000 new jobs by the end of his term in 2014. However, in late July, the president said that a global economic crisis is affecting his plans, saying, "Our recovery might not be as strong as we would hope. Even if the economy begins to grow again next year, we will have to wait a little longer for a significant increase in new job creation."
Polling Data
Would you say Jacob Zuma is doing a good job, or a bad job?
|
Good job |
57% |
|
Bad job |
13% |
|
Don’t know |
31% |
Source: TNS Research Surveys
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 2,000 South African adults in seven major metropolitan areas, conducted in June 2009. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.
