As South Africa (SA) looks ahead to the 2024 general polls, a recent survey has revealed that most of the country's citizens value elections, but majorities do not believe that elections work well to ensure that voters' views are reflected in Parliament and to enable voters to remove leaders from office who don't do what the people want.

The Afrobarometer survey indicates that while about half of citizens consider their 2019 elections to have been free and fair, trust in the South African Electoral Commission is weak. A majority say they did not fear political intimidation or violence during the last national election campaign, but views on ballot secrecy are mixed.

To discuss this further is Asafika Mpako, Afrobarometer Communication Co-ordinator.