9 things South Africans expect will get worse in 2024 –

After a tough 2023 for many, a new survey has revealed what everyday South Africans expect will get worse in 2024 – including corruption, the economy, employment, load shedding, water supply, safety, and crime, among other things.

In 2023, South Africans faced a challenging year marked by economic turmoil, political tensions, and ongoing electricity struggles.

The country grappled with soaring unemployment rates, exacerbated by global economic downturns and domestic issues. The political landscape witnessed heightened tensions and debates, while energy shortages further added to the nation’s woes.

Despite resilient efforts by communities, the convergence of these factors created a harsh environment for South African households, testing their resilience and prompting a collective bleak outlook for the new year ahead.

This less-than-optimistic outlook was highlighted in a new survey by prominent South African online research company infoQuest, which interviewed thousands of South Africans across all demographic groups.

The main findings are listed below:

Political outlook

As South Africans await a definite national election date, their outlook on the political situation in 2024 is far from favourable.

The state of the country’s leadership and the health of democracy is expected to worsen in 2024. Three in four South Africans expect corruption to worsen, while only 16% believe or are hopeful that the state of corruption will improve.

Notably, older individuals’ expectations are more negative than younger people’s.

The economy and employment

Expectations about South Africa’s economic health and job security are also not optimistic. 2023 was a challenging year for the South African economy, with expectations for the annual growth rate set between negative and marginally positive at best.

While unemployment has improved marginally, it is still over 30% and will only improve with positive economic growth. During 2023, 17% of South Africans reported losing their jobs, with those in the lower-income groups most affected.

More than half of South Africans are certain or fearful that the economy and job security will get worse in 2024.

Load shedding and water supply

Reports throughout 2023 showed that there was almost double the number of load-shedding hours in 2023 than in 2022 and that Eskom initiated higher levels of load shedding in 2023 than in the previous year.

While alternative energy projects involving solar and wind are underway, it will take time to witness any benefits from these projects. In the meantime, South Africans are bracing themselves, with 65% believing that the situation will deteriorate in 2024.

People in many parts of the country have also experienced water interruptions during 2023, mainly due to poorly maintained infrastructure, which needs to be repaired and maintained.

43% of South Africans expect this situation to worsen during 2024.

Safety, security, and crime

The survey also highlighted that the incidence of violent crime in South Africa remains a problem.

Accurate crime statistics are hard to come by, but in 2023, one in three South Africans reported being a victim of crime where something valuable was taken from them.

This was the case across all income groups. In terms of crime, which resulted in physical harm, this occurred for 11% of individuals in 2023, and it appears that South Africans do not expect the crime situation to improve this year.

In fact, 61% expect it to worsen. People also do not have much faith in law enforcement by the police, with 51% believing that it will get worse this year.

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