South Africa’s democracy appears to be fighting for its survival in KwaZulu-Natal. Recent research presented by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) on Wednesday indicates a sharp decline in public support for democracy and trust in institutions.
However, despite their waning faith in democracy, most residents (76%) said they would vote if elections were held “tomorrow”.
IEC chairperson Mosotho Moepya said the findings had prompted the commission to spend this week in the province to confront the “serious” and “worrying” developments in voter attitudes.
The findings form part of the Voter Participation Survey (VPS), conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council between October 2025 and February 2026.
The survey report, titled What is happening in KwaZulu-Natal? Electoral Integrity, Civic Duty and Disillusionment, is based on a nationally representative sample of people aged 16 and older, interviewed in private households across the country.
Support for democracy as the preferred system is no longer a majority view in KwaZulu-Natal, down to 43% from a high of 65% of provincial adults in 2015.
A fatalistic view that the type of political regime “does not matter” was expressed by 23% of adults; 6 percentage points higher than in 2015, which 33% believed “in some circumstances, a non-democratic government can be preferable”.
In addition, 92% of KwaZulu-Natal adults believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. Only 7% think it is going in the right direction. Moepya said the findings raised concern about attitudes towards democratic governance.
“There are people who say: ‘Even if we don’t have elections, I’m happy to have someone going to public office by means that are non-democratic.’ That’s not okay.
“If you pause there for a moment, that should be a reason for worry. We take it seriously. That’s why we’re spending the week here. We are not looking the other way. It needs attention and must be resolved. We would rather fix democracy because that’s what we need to do. We must have a functional democracy,” he said.
IEC vice-chairperson Janet Love said the IEC had engaged stakeholders about the findings to work together to find solutions.
“It’s a problem of the survival of our democracy. It’s a problem of the survival of our country as a country that is not going to fall into all sorts of wrong hands,” she said.
“This is something we have to work on together, whether we are from the IEC, whether we are from different community organisations, because we can’t let it happen under our watch.”
IEC chief electoral officer Sy Mamabolo presented the survey findings, which revealed a significant decline in satisfaction with how democracy is working.
In 2004, 54% of respondents in KwaZulu-Natal said they were satisfied. By 2025, this had fallen to 6%, the lowest level among all provinces.
The national average stands at 17%. The commission noted that “even adults who generally support democratic values … tended to state that their democracy was not working”.
High levels of dissatisfaction with economic conditions was widespread, with 88% of adults in KwaZulu-Natal saying they were dissatisfied with the general economic situation. The number of respondents and key conditions they believe had worsened over the past five years:
• 92% said unemployment.
• 91% said the cost of living.
• 84% said corruption.
• 80% said crime and safety.
• 78% said service delivery.
Looking ahead, 92% of respondents said they believed the country was “heading in the wrong direction”, while 88% said economic problems such as unemployment and inflation would probably worsen in the next five years.
Mamabolo said the survey revealed “a nexus between democratic functioning and satisfaction with the economic situation”.
long stakeholder engagement in KwaZulu-Natal.
Decline in institutional trust
Trust in public institutions has also declined markedly in the province. Trust in national government has fallen from 65% in 2009 to 5% in 2025. Trust in parliament has declined from 51% to 7%, while trust in local government has decreased from 42% to 10%. Trust in political parties remains low at 5%, continuing a downward trend.
Trust in the IEC itself has also declined, from 74% in 2009 to 20% in 2025. This is below the national average of 32%.
However, the survey distinguishes between overall trust levels and the views of those who participated in elections. Among respondents who reported voting, 81% said they trusted the commission, compared with lower levels when all respondents are included.
Confidence in electoral processes
The survey also assessed confidence in the accuracy of vote counting and reporting during the 2024 national and provincial elections.
In KwaZulu-Natal, 38% of respondents said they were “very or somewhat confident” that counting and reporting was accurate, while 55% said they were “not at all” or “not very” confident. The national average for confidence stands at 45%.
The commission said that area would require additional public education, noting that understanding of the counting and results process had not previously been a specific focus.
High intention to vote
Despite the findings, the survey records a high stated intention to vote in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The question was asked: ‘If local government elections were held tomorrow would you vote?’ Seventy-six percent of voters in KwaZulu-Natal said they would,” Mamabolo said. This is 14% points higher than in other provinces.
Mamabolo said the level of intended participation was recorded “despite all the negative assessment, despite the low trust levels”.
Reasons for not voting
Among respondents who said they would not vote, the main reasons relate to political attitudes. Mamabolo said the central reason some respondents did not intend to vote was due to “political disinterest and disillusionment”.
By contrast, fewer than 1% cited election management as a reason and 2% cited voter registration.
He said the findings indicated that non-participation was primarily linked to views about politics rather than the administration of elections. At the same time, 21% of respondents in KwaZulu-Natal said nothing would encourage them to vote.
Among those open to voting, the survey identified several factors that could increase participation. Forty percent of respondents said greater accountability by politicians would encourage them to vote.
A further 32% said societal change and renewed hope would be a motivating factor. Other responses included improvements in service delivery (9%), improvements in the labour market (8%) and better political candidates (6%).
Public knowledge of the IEC
The survey also examined public awareness of the IEC. In KwaZulu-Natal, 28% of respondents said they knew nothing about the commission and its work, while 52% said they knew a little. Only 19% said they knew a lot or a great deal.
Television was identified as the main source of information about the commission (59%), followed by radio (35%) and social media (24%).
The commission noted that while social media was growing as a source of information, it “is still an untrusted source of authentic information about the electoral process”.
Moepya said the findings reflected challenges that must be addressed.
“There are some tough things that come out of it and they can cause you to cringe,” he said. “Let’s cringe together … and fashion solutions.”
The commission engaged in the research before elections to understand voter attitudes and improve the electoral process.
“We try to anticipate, to listen, to understand some of the challenges they face,” he said.
Local government elections are due to be held between November 2026 and January 2027, in line with constitutional requirements. The commission said the survey findings would inform its preparations and engagement with stakeholders in the province.
Mamabolo said the commission was implementing technical and operational improvements before the elections, particularly voter management devices (VMDs).
He said the commission had identified and addressed a “coding deficiency in the voters roll app”, which had affected performance in the 2024 elections. An external audit, including stress and volume testing, was also planned to assess the system’s functionality.
The commission was procuring extra equipment, including scanners to replace the use of inbuilt device cameras for ID verification, which were affected by lighting conditions. It was also acquiring an additional 16 000 VMDs to improve distribution at high-density voting stations.
Mamabolo said system functionality in offline mode has been adjusted so that devices continued operating without displaying connectivity interruptions, after instances where staff incorrectly halted voting processes during outages.
Support for democracy in KwaZulu-Natal has fallen to its lowest levels in decades, with trust in government and institutions collapsing. Yet, most residents say they would vote if elections were held tomorrow
