M4Jam asked 2953 South Africans about their main concerns as the country marked exactly one year since the first Covid-19 case in the country was diagnosed.

Although infection rates seem to be declining and vaccines are slowly being rolled out in the country, most South Africans fear the arrival of a third wave of Covid-19, further lockdowns, job losses and the social problems that will bring.

• In terms of the pandemic’s broader social effects, being able to keep up to date with monthly bills and payments was a widely shared concern, however, of those who took the survey said they were very worried about being able to meet their financial commitments. Household income and job losses remains a very real fear for most.
• Predicting which factors may improve or worsen:

IMPROVE

• Digital tools will continue to become more prevalent
• Optimistic about the level of education not suffering as a result of Covid-19. 
• South Africa’s overall health situation would not deteriorate

WORSEN

• Employment opportunities would become even scarcer.
• 
  Despite South Africa’s rejection of its first shipment of vaccines and widespread misinformation about the effectiveness of vaccinations, the amount of respondents said they would take the vaccine when it became available to them.
• Asked whether Covid-19 had caused South Africa to lose its grip on its response and the rule of law, most respondents said that the socioeconomic situation had undoubtedly changed and that corruption and crime were worsening as a result of the pandemic. The majority agreed with the notion that “things are out of control” in the country. Top of mind were worries about job losses, failure of relief measures and a third wave of infections.

Download the full survey HERE