IRR polling: the state of race relations in SA today

South Africans consistently lean towards coexistence over conflict, opportunity over permanent racial management, and performance over excuse-making.

This is the thrust of a report published today by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) on the results of its latest polling.

The findings show that while racism “remains part of many South Africans’ lived experience, the electorate’s deeper instincts remain markedly more non-racial, cooperative, and upliftment-focused than much political rhetoric suggests”.

Hermann Pretorius, head of strategic communications at the IRR and lead author of the report, explained the polling methodology and presented the results of the survey in a webinar today.

Key findings are: 

1. Most South Africans reject continued race-based allocation by the state. 70% say government should not continue using apartheid-era race categories to decide who qualifies for business and job opportunities, while 27% say it should. This includes 64% of black respondents, 85% of coloured respondents, 74% of Indians, and 97% of whites.
2. The public remains strongly committed to interracial cooperation. 89% agree that the different races need each other for progress and that there should be full opportunity for people of all colours, up from 84% in 2025.
3. Economic upliftment is seen as the route beyond racial inequality. 76% agree that better education and more jobs will steadily reduce inequality between the races, up from 73% in 2025. Agreement stands at 75% among black respondents, 76% among coloured respondents, 80% among Indians, and 87% among whites.
4. Perceptions of social expectations about the presidency are more racial than personal preferences. 47% think most other South Africans believe the President must be black, but only 34% themselves say they would only or preferably support a black President. Fully 66% say they would support the best person regardless of race.
5. Racism remains real, but it is not most heavily reported by the poorest. Overall, 44% report personal experience of racism, down from 48% in 2025. Yet only 30% of households under R2,000 report it, compared with 54% of those earning R20,000 or more.
6. Racial grievance clusters around grievance-oriented parties. Reported personal experience of racism stands at 64% among FF+ voters, 63% among MK voters, 56% among PA voters, and 50% among EFF voters. This points to a mutually reinforcing relationship between grievance-sensitive voters and grievance-based party rhetoric.
7. South Africans reject extreme racial-threat narratives. Trump’s “white genocide” claim is rejected by 72% and accepted by only 19%. Even among whites, 50% disagree and 37% agree.
8. The public remains deeply sceptical of elite race rhetoric. 70% agree that politicians use racism and colonialism to excuse their failures, including 67% of black respondents, 73% of ANC supporters, and 71% of DA supporters.

Pretorius writes: “The central purpose of this report is to examine race as a social, political, and policy factor in South Africa today. It does so through a focused battery of core questions on the use of race in policy, the race of the President, lived experience of racism, beliefs about progress through jobs and education, the perceived need for interracial cooperation, and the extent to which racial rhetoric is seen as political excuse-making.”

He adds: “The 2026 IRR polling presents a portrait of South Africa that is far from comfortable, but ultimately more hopeful than rhetoric or superficial analysis allow. Race relations are under pressure and racism remains real. There is a suspicion that ‘other’ people hold political power and office to be racially coded and therefore divisive. Several parties clearly earn or capitalise on racial grievance. Yet the deeper direction of opinion is not towards racial collapse, but towards a stable and formidable national preference for coexistence, upliftment, and a more non-racial than racial future.

“Most South Africans do not want the state to keep allocating opportunity through apartheid-era racial categories. Most think the races need each other. Most think better education and more jobs can reduce racial inequality. Most reject extreme racial-threat narratives. Most say politicians overuse race and colonialism as excuses. Most also say they themselves would support the best person for President regardless of race, even while suspecting that the wider political culture is more racially restrictive than they are.”

Pretorius concludes: “The task ahead is not to manufacture a desire for coexistence that does not yet exist. That desire is already visible in the data. The task is to align policy and leadership with a public that appears more ready for a less racialised, more opportunity-driven, and more competence-focused future than much of its political rhetoric and governance offerings admit.”

The poll was conducted between 9 and 20 March among 1,038 registered voters. The survey has a design effect of 2.4018. On a simple-random-sample basis, a poll of this size carries a conventional margin of error of approximately plus or minus 3% points at a 95% confidence level. (More detail on the methodology is provided in the report.)

Read the full report here.

Media contact: Hermann Pretorius IRR Head of Strategic Communications

Tel: 079 875 4290

Email: hermann@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris

Tel: 066 302 1968

Email: michael@irr.org.za