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Citizens continue losing trust in public institutions: Survey

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The confidence and trust of the majority of citizens in key public institutions such as Parliament has declined since 2006. This is according to the 2019 South African Reconciliation Barometer Survey conducted by the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR).

However, according to the study, most people have trust in the country’s Constitution.

One of the authors of the report, Rajen Govender, of the IJR, says 77% of South Africans believe the country still needs reconciliation.

“The majority of South Africans still believe in the idea of the Constitution and I think this is important in terms of the declining trust in the institutions. They may not trust Parliament, so there is a trust deficit but I believe that the antidote in that is what I call the constitutional quotient. As long as they believe in the ideal of the constitution -the values of the constitution and the notion of the constitution as a legitimate mechanism for achieving social change, I think for now I allow them not to trust Parliament.”

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