Survey shows SA's intolerance
2004-10-07 09:41
Cape Town - Although South Africa boasts one of the most liberal constitutions in the world, its people are everything but tolerant.
This emerged from a study by Dr Stephen Rule, a research director at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), on people's feelings regarding gay relationships, abortion and the death penalty.
South Africans are much more intolerant towards these issues than the rest of the world.
More than half of South Africans are of the opinion that abortion is wrong under all circumstances, while only 21% are of the opinion that it is not wrong at all.
Black people (64%) are mainly against abortion, regardless of the circumstances. White people are to a lesser degree opposed to abortion and only 23% say it is wrong if the foetus shows an abnormality.
In Europe, 60% of the British are in favour of abortion, as are 70% of the Polish and more than 80% of the Dutch and Swiss.
In South Africa, 81% of black people are of the opinion that gay relationships are wrong under all circumstances. Sixty-four percent of Coloureds, 70% of white people and 76% of Indians are against it.
In comparison, only 15% of the Dutch and 26% of the Swiss population find gay relationships wrong.
The majority of South Africans feel murderers should get the death penalty: Black people (72%), white people (92%), Coloureds (76%) and Indians (86%).
Women in particular (78%) feel the death penalty should be reinstated, compared to men (72%). The pro-death penalty sentiment is stronger in urban areas.