By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider 

The African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg has said that an Ipsos survey had placed the party at 31% and ahead of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the race to lead Johannesburg. 

“The Ipsos research findings reaffirm that the ANC is arresting the decline and beginning to rebuild its support. This is encouraging,” said the party’s regional secretary, Sasa Manganye in a statement.

 He also stated that even though these are encouraging results, this should not create any sense of complacency for the party in preparation for the November 4 elections. “Our task now is to consolidate this momentum and work even harder to improve our electoral performance beyond the last elections. 

We must turn renewed confidence into organisational strength, stronger community engagement and, ultimately, electoral gains.” he said further in the statement. Mangaye stated that Ipsos polling shows that the lost supporters of the ANC are now restoring their faith.

 “The message is clear: we are not merely trying to stop the decline; we are preparing to win back the confidence and support of the people,” said Mangaye. However the Social Research Foundation had recently released its poll results, which had shown that the DA had been leading in Johannesburg by 42% and ANC holding 18%.

 “The sharp disparity between these figures raise serious questions about the reliability, methodology, and political purpose of the SRF poll, whose presentation appears to favour a DA narrative rather than to provide an objective reflection of voter sentiment,” said Maganye. 

Maganye also clarified that the SRF poll had surveyed only 504 Johannesburg respondents and applied a 53% turn out model, with a reported margin of error sitting at 4.4%.

 “The ANC Greater Joburg region therefore cautions against the deliberate use of polling as a political propaganda instrument designed to manufacture perceptions of electoral inevitability by the DA-led SRF,” said Maganye.