Before the Brett Murray painting of President Zuma was defaced, almost 78% of South Africans under the age of 35 knew about the painting, and almost 50% agreed that it should have been removed from the exhibition. After the defacing, awareness of the painting rose to 86%, and 78% had heard about the defacing while 56% agreed that the painting should have been destroyed.
This is according to a survey released today conducted by mobile research firm Pondering Panda.
“The most significant difference in opinion shows up amongst different races, with black youth feeling most strongly about the removal of the painting from the gallery, as well as showing support for the defacing. These opinions correlate with the national support for Zuma,” Shirley Wakefield, CEO of Pondering Panda.
The first survey was conducted prior to the defacing and canvassed 3127 respondents. The second was conducted over 24 hours after the defacing and canvassed 1495 respondents.
The survey sample is representative of all digitally connected South Africans under the age of 35 years.
