Almost eight in every 10 South Africans (77%) agree that they are proud to be South African – this sentiment is slightly more pronounced amongst the younger age group (18-24 year olds).
This is according to a survey by research company Ipsos during which a total of 3‚564 personal face-to-face interviews were conducted with randomly selected adult South Africans.
“It is worth noting that this study was conducted prior to the start of the Rugby World Cup and the shock defeat of the Springboks by Japan.
“However‚ before the team’s departure there was controversy about the choice of players – not only due to their fitness and game form‚ but also about the representivity of the team and the population groups to which players belong‚” according to Ipsos.
In the study two questions were asked‚ namely: “Which is your favourite national sports team?” and “What is your favourite sport?”
It should come as no surprise that soccer and Bafana Bafana top the charts in terms of the favourite amongst the majority of South Africans – 53% saying that this is their favourite team.
The Springbok team is the favourite of only 10% of the South African population and 8% say that the Protea cricket team is their favourite South African sports team.
Very few other national teams were mentioned.
Almost three in every ten (28%) South Africans said that they do not have a favourite team – this group was made up of mostly of females – with 4 in every ten (43%) having no favourite team to speak of.
When it came to “favourite sport” 3% of South Africans mentioned netball‚ all of them female.
Other sports mentioned (by small proportions) included: hockey‚ tennis‚ golf‚ boxing‚ basketball‚ athletics/running‚ swimming‚ volleyball‚ water polo‚ wrestling‚ dancing‚ softball cycling‚ fishing and hunting.
“It therefore looks as if sport is not necessarily the unifier of South African public opinion and pride in the country that politicians and sports people want it to be.
“But‚ in spite of our differences when it comes to sport and the supporting (and probably playing) of different teams and sport codes it is important to note that about two-thirds (66%) of South Africans expressed their confidence in a happy future for all races in the country.
“Concentrating on the reaction of different age groups to this question‚ it bodes well for the future as younger people are very confident in a happy future for all races in South Africa.”
-RDM News Wire
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