Jare Struwig

Shadow of the Sun – The Distribution of Wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite the enthusiasm that prevailed during sub-Saharan Africa’s initial wave of independence, representations of quality of life in the region over the last half-century focused on themes that typically characterize failed states: maladministration, violence and conflict, disease, impoverishment and suffering. Although considerable hardship persists, the subcontinent experienced impressive economic growth over the last decade. This, together with increasing gains from state-led social spending, has prompted a new narrative that speaks of promise and opportunity. Against this backdrop, the chapter reviews quality of life in the region using select objective and subjective wellbeing measures. The results confirm the general pattern of recent social progress, though lingering deprivation, inequality and often difficult political conditions. While this situation is reflected in relatively low life satisfaction evaluations, it is also accompanied by a resolute optimism that attests to the resilience of the region’s citizens in the face of adversity. The chapter also assesses the influence of certain objective conditions on subjective wellbeing at the macro-level.

The Hot, the Cold and the Lukewarm: Exploring the Depth and Determinants of Public Closeness to the African National Congress

ABSTRACT South African politics has been dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) since the country’s successful transition to democracy. But what is the degree of ANC support in South Africa at the micro-level? This paper will examine individual party closeness to the ANC for the period 2008–2014. We will use data from the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey. Multivariate tests will be employed to identify the determinants of party closeness at the start of this period and at the end. Of those factors that our models revealed as statistically significant predictors of ANC support, the strongest was race group. Class identity, by contrast, was not strongly correlated with support. Interestingly, perceptions of electoral instrumentality were positively associated with higher levels of support for the ruling party. The findings of this paper suggest the need for future research on party closeness in the country and we conclude by outlining potential avenues of study.

South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) 2015: Questionnaire 1 - All provinces

Description: Topics covered in the questionnaire are: democracy and governance, national identity and pride, intergroup relations, education, moral issues, personal wellbeing index, poverty, crime and safety, voting, respondent characteristics, household characteristics, personal and household income variables. Out of the targeted population of 3500, 3115 responses (89%) was realized. Abstract: The primary objective of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) is to design, develop and implement a conceptually and methodologically robust study of changing social attitudes and values in South Africa. In meeting this objective, the HSRC is carefully and consistently monitoring and providing insight into changes in attitudes among various socio-demographic groupings. SASAS is intended to provide a unique long-term account of the social fabric of modern South Africa, and of how its changing political and institutional structures interact over time with changing social attitudes and values. The survey is conducted annually and the 2015 survey is the thirteenth wave in the series. The core module will remain constant for subsequent annual SASAS surveys with the aim of monitoring change and continuity in a variety of socio-economic and socio-political variables. In addition, a number of themes will be accommodated in rotation. The rotating element of the survey consists of two or more topic-specific modules in each round of interviewing and is directed at measuring a range of policy and academic concerns and issues that require more detailed examination at a specific point in time than the multi-topic core module would permit.

Trusting the Coalface: Public Trust in South African Local Government and the Millennium Development Goals

Governance at the local level is at the frontline of African endeavours to complete the Millennium Development Goals. Following the third wave of democratisation in Africa, many new democratic states pursued a strategy of decentralising central governments, empowering local authorities to eradicate poverty and improve citizens’ quality of life. Public trust in local government, however, is often low on the continent. When a public institution is distrusted by the public, citizens are unlikely to cooperative with that institution. Using South Africa as a case study, this paper examines attitudinal determinants of public confidence in local government in order to understand how trust in these political institutions can be improved. Using public opinion data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) for the period 2003–2012, the chapters finds that public trust is driven by satisfaction with service delivery, political efficacy and political knowledge.