Next election ‘battle for the black vote’
JOBURG – Research shows what type of citizen was more likely to vote for what party in a recent survey.
Researchers have revealed that the next election will be a “battle for the black vote” according to surveys conducted after the 2016 municipal elections.
Researchers from the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Centre for Social Change conducted the survey, which found that the African National Congress (ANC) voters tended to be much older than the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) voters and the Democratic Alliance (DA) voters.
Professor Peter Alexander, South African Research Chair in Social Change and director of the Centre for Social Change at UJ, revealed that the findings were an over-representation of voters in black townships and informal settlements.
He said the findings were not necessarily representative of affluent suburbs. “The research was undertaken at 21 voting stations in Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and the Free State, most of them located in working-class neighbourhoods.
Over 4 000 questionnaires were completed, and compared with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) data, shows that findings were broadly representative of the voters in the surveyed areas,” Alexander said.
The survey, as revealed by Alexander, also found that the ANC was more popular among female voters and the opposite was true among EFF voters; that DA voters were fairly evenly divided.
It also found that the ANC did well among voters living in RDP houses and among recipients of social grants, and the EFF did well among voters living in shacks and 68 percent of those surveyed, voted for the same party as in 2014 and 14 percent voted for a different party.
The findings further revealed that of those who had changed parties, most moved from the ANC to the EFF. The report, Local Government Elections 2016: Some Preliminary Findings from an Exit Survey of Voters, is by senior research associate professor at the Centre for Social Change, Professor Marcel Paret.
Related articles:
DA ‘in agreement’ with Cope, UDM, ACDP, VF Plus, IFP
Northcliff Melville Times
For free breaking and community news, visit Johannesburg North West’s websites:
Keep updated on breaking news in your area. Like Northcliff Melville Times page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
