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Pretoria, Mar 20 (I-Net Bridge) - A large majority of 72% of South Africans said that democracy is preferable to any other form of government, the latest Afrobarometer survey conducted by the Institute for Democracy in SA (Idasa) in October and November 2011 showed.
Strong majorities continue to reject a move to authoritarian rule, but a third of respondents said that they would be willing to give up regular elections and live under a government that could impose law and order and deliver houses and jobs.
Strong majorities agreed with a mandate for the media to investigate corruption (70%), the continued implementation of a two-year presidential term limit (66%), judicial oversight of the presidency (65%), freedom to join any organization
(63%), parliamentary approval of legislation (63%), media freedom (61%), the view that people are "the bosses" of government (61%) and that the president must be accountable to parliament (55%).
A majority of 64% felt that the media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control, while 34% said that the government should have the right to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers
harmful to society. In 2008, when a stronger question was asked about government control of the media, fully 80% of respondents rejected government control of the media.
Almost half (45%) said that "the government should only be able to restrict access to information that is vital to national security, even if this means it is embarrassed from time to time".
Another 38% felt that "the government should be able to restrict access to any information it sees fit, even if this allows it to cover up mistakes and corruption".
An overall 64% felt that opposition parties should concentrate on cooperating with government and helping it develop the country rather than criticizing government. A minority (44%) felt that it is more important for citizens to be able to hold government accountable, even if that means it makes decisions more slowly.
South Africans are relatively satisfied with democracy in their country. Two-thirds of South Africans (66%) said that the country is fully or largely democratic, up from 61% in 2008. Three quarters (77%) felt that the last national election was completely free and fair or free and fair with minor problems.
There has been a slight decline in fears of political intimidation. There is also increased confidence in ballot secrecy. However, concern that party competition leads to violence remained high.
There has been an increase in perceived freedoms. More than two thirds (69%) said that they feel completely free to vote as they please. A majority of 64% felt "completely free" to any join political organization. A weak majority (52%) said that they felt completely free to say what they think in South Africa
