Afrobarometer: Round 2.5 Survey of South Africa, 2004

The Afrobarometer project was designed to assess attitudes
toward democracy, markets, and civil society in several sub-Saharan
African nations, and to track the evolution of such attitudes in those
nations over time. This particular survey was concerned with the
attitudes and opinions of the citizens of South Africa. Respondents
gave their opinions of the performance of South Africa's President
Thabo Mbeki and elected officials in local and national government, the
government's handling of issues such as crime and the economy, the
most important issues facing the nation, and whether the country was
heading in the right direction. A series of questions addressed
respondents' living conditions, the economic conditions and political
influence of their own ethnic group compared to other groups in the
country, and whether they felt more attached to their national
identity or their ethnic group. Views were sought on the past,
present, and future of economic conditions in the country, economic
policies and reform, political parties, income inequality, civil
rights, equal rights for women, and whether laws were enforced
equally. Respondents rated their level of trust in the government,
military, courts, the media, and others, the level of corruption
existing in these groups, the ease of obtaining assistance with
securing documents and government services, the methods by which
respondents did so, and how often in the past year respondents had
paid a bribe to a government official. Other questions asked about
respondents' interest in public affairs, their level of civic
engagement, and their satisfaction with the way democracy and
elections worked in South Africa. Respondents were quizzed on their
knowledge of government officials, presidential term limits, and
government policy, and gave their interpretation of the concept of
democracy. Additional questions asked about media sources of
information, respondents' ownership of consumer goods such as books
and automobiles, their physical and mental health status, and whether
any close friends or relatives had died of AIDS. Information was also
collected on the presence of institutions, public utilities, and
soliders in the area. Demographic variables include sex, age, race,
ethnicity, education level, language, employment status, occupation,
voter registration status and participation history, political party
affiliation, religious preference, religious participation, and type
of residential area (e.g., urban, rural, etc.).