Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - October 2, 2005
Moipone Malefane

This is according to Research Surveys, a market research company, which conducted a telephonic survey of 300 metropolitan adults in June to determine whether they supported Mbeki's decision. A follow-up study of 500 people was conductedin July.

Most of the respondents - 74% - agreed that Mbeki's decision to sack Zuma from his Cabinet was correct. Only 23% disagreed, while 3% said they did not know.

Fifty percent of respondents said the decision would divide the ANC, while 42% said it would not cause divisions in the ANC.

A majority of 63% said they did not believe that Mbeki had fired Zuma to get rid of a rival, while 28% felt it had been a political move to get rid of a rival.

Seventy-five percent believed that Zuma's dismissal had sent a positive message to investors and 86% believed Mbeki sent a clear message on corruption to the government.

While 83% believed that Mbeki has demonstrated a commitment to transparent government, 75% believed Zuma's sacking would also improve South Africa's image in the rest of the world.

In the follow-up survey in July, Research Surveys found that Cosatu's proposed funding of Zuma's legal costs was not generally well-received by this somewhat affluent sample.

The majority, 56%, disagreed with Cosatu and only 33% felt that the union federation had done the right thing by setting up a trust fund.

Another study, questioning 2000 adults about the government's position on HIV/Aids, showed support for Mbeki's stance on the pandemic.

But 86% said the government needed to do more to supply medication to people infected with HIV.

Only 43% thought Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was doing a good job, while 45% said she was not.

The Treatment Action Campaign's spokesman, Mark Heywood, said the lobby group was worried that people supported Mbeki's stance on HIV/Aids because Mbeki had said very little about the pandemic.

"Whatever he has said is confusing and, if people support him, it means they are also confused," he said.

Heywood added that the survey showed that most people had no confidence in the Ministry of Health.

"I believe with these results government should reconsider whether Tshabalala-Msimang is the right person for the job. We believe she is the wrong person for the job," he said.

The market research company pointed out that the survey reflected the views of somewhat affluent people as only 26% of people living in urban areas had landline telephones.

Mbeki fired Zuma after the Durban High Court found that he had a generally corrupt relationship with his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.

Zuma was subsequently charged with two counts of corruption and is due to appear in court next week.

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