South African Social Attitudes

The 2nd Report Reflections on the Age of Hope Since the transition to democracy in 1994, South Africa has become a well-documented nation. A multitude of national and sub-national studies have been conducted, yielding a wealth of information about the characteristics of South African society and how these have evolved over time. However, less is known about how South Africans feel about their world and themselves. There remains much scope for deepening our understanding of the public’s values, chronicling how these have been changing, and determining the extent to which different segments of the population vary in their attitudes and beliefs.

HSRC Press

Product Information

Format:

240mm x 168mm (Soft Cover)

Pages:

384

ISBN-13:

978-07969-2217-5

Publish Year:

2010

Rights:

World Rights

Introduction
Benjamin Roberts, Mbithi wa Kivilu and Yul Derek Davids

Part I: Race, class and politics

South Africans views about national priorities and the trustworthiness of institutions
Stephen Rule and Zakes Langa
Attitdues towards racial redress in South Africa
Kevin Durrheim
Public perceptions of local government
Marlene Roefs and Doreen Atkinson
Demand governance versus democractic citizens: What do South Africans think?
Yul Derek Davids
Youth voices in South Africa: Echoes in the age of hope
Gerard Boyce

Part II: Poverty, inequality and service delivery

Winters of discontent? Attitudes towards service delivery
David Hemson
South Africans’ attitude to social integration in schools
Mbithi wa Kivilu, Mandla Diko and Ronnie Mmotlane
Towards a democratic definition of poverty: Socially perceived necessities in South Africa
Gemma Wright, Michael Noble and Wiseman Magasela

Child poverty and social exclusion in South Africa
Jonathan Bradshaw and John Holmes

Part III: Societal values

Christianity in South Africa: Theory and practice
Stephen Rule and Bongiwe Mncwango
South Africans attitudes towards the environment
Jaré Struwig
What do South Africans think about work, their jobs and organisations?
Carly Steyn

Fear factor: perceptions of safety in South Africa
Benjamin Roberts

Benjamin Roberts is a research specialist in the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development research programme at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Before joining the HSRC, he was research fellow in the Population and Poverty Studies Programme at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Dr Mbithi wa Kivilu is the director and head of the Centre for Socio-Economic Surveys section of the Knowledge Systems unit at the HSRC. Before joining the HSRC, Dr Kivilu worked as a lecturer at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr Kivilu also worked as a research consultant as part of a post-graduate fellowship for the Centre for Research in Applied Measurement and Evaluation based in the University of Alberta. He has undertaken projects for organisations such as the South African National Department of Education, Gauteng Department of Education, USAID, DANIDA, UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank.

Yul Derek Davids is a research manager in the Centre for Socio-Economic Surveys section of the Knowledge Systems unit at the HSRC. Before joining the HSRC, he was manager of the Public Opinion Service at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA). He has also managed the Afrobarometer project at IDASA, which conducts periodic public opinion surveys across Africa.