ABSTRACT
Democracy relies on the attitudes and acceptance of its citizens. When democratic governments are unable to secure or maintain popular support, they are vulnerable to political, economic, or social crises. This chapter tracks popular support for democracy in South Africa during an unprecedented public health crisis, namely, the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. This chapter utilises micro-level data to measure citizen support for and evaluations of democracy and prominent political actors since the onset of the global pandemic as well as public opinion relating to the South African government’s response to COVID-19 by means of a fivefold analytical framework. The findings suggest that South Africa is at increased risk of democratic breakdown given the low and declining levels of diffuse support (political community, regime principles, and regime performance) and specific support (regime institutions and political actors) for democracy. Factors including political governance, policy regulations and enforcement, the national socio-economic context, and impact of COVID-19 on the economy, as well as irregular expenditure relating to COVID-19 measures by various government agencies and public officials, are used to illustrate the intrinsic and instrumental nature of support for democracy in South Africa.
