Sharp increase in coloured EFF supporters, says IRR survey

The Institute for Race Relations has released their quarterly Criterion Report. The report is a survey polling the level of support for different political parties.

According to the final section of the survey, which tracks the amount of support South Africa’s different races show the country’s three biggest parties, the amount of so-called coloured voters supporting the Economic Freedom Fighters has risen sharply to 4.7% nationally.

In September 2018, IRR data put this support at only 1%, while in December 2018 it tracked even lower, at 0%. It had risen to 2% by February this year.

In Gauteng, the party’s support among the so-called coloured community had similarly risen from 1% in February to 4% currently, while in the Western Cape it had grown over the same period from 1% to 2%.

Both the ANC and DA’s support has declined according to the survey, although it puts the governing party’s support as having declined substantially both nationally and in certain provinces, while the DA showed a national drop of only half a percentage point both nationally and in Gauteng, while the survey shows a dramatically bigger drop for the party – of 5.5% – in the Western Cape.

READ MORE: EFF growing as ANC, DA decline, says new IRR survey

The institute’s head of politics and governance, Gareth Van Onselen, told The Citizen he felt the rise in support for the EFF is linked to a drop of support in the ANC, while the drop in support for the DA is more likely fueling an increase in support for parties such as the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and Patricia De Lille’s newly formed Good.

According to Van Onselen, polling shows that Good could pick up a few seats in the Western Cape, though is unlikely to make a huge dent in the DA’s support nationally, IRR’s polling indicates.

The EFF will grow substantially in this election if IRR’s stats are to be believed, with their latest report putting the party at 14.9% nationally, a significant increase from their 8.19% share in 2016’s municipal elections, itself showing growth from the 6.35% it achieved in its first ever elections in 2014.

The EFF polled as high as 18.2% in Gauteng according to IRR’s February data, although this dropped sharply to 13% in their latest survey.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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