Dancing on The Same Spot: Survey Report on Citizen’s Perceptions and Expectations.

• an overview of what is taking place at the national level in terms of government’s initiatives,
• the findings from the field in a more detailed manner,
• conclusion and suggestions on what could be done to resolve the growing chasm between what government does and what citizens expect it to do.

It concludes the two parties have defaulted to blame shifting -

• ZANU-PF seems to be shifting all the blame on sanctions.
• Movement for Democratic Change-Alliance’s (MDC-A) mantra ‘it is all because of ZANU-PF meddling’.

What can citizens do when those with the mandate to rule have abdicated their responsibilities due to perceived overbearing external influence?

The survey can be found at [1]

[2] Full report

[3] Executive summary

See the full file here: File:Citizens-Perception-and-Expectation-Report.pdf

Key Findings

Lack of citizen participation in public processes

The majority (60.18%) of the survey respondents indicated that they have never been involved in policy formulation process. There have been limited opportunities and processes to engage citizens on how public problems relating to the socio-economic crisis came be resolved. Engagement and participation of citizens in public processes has mostly been reduced to processes of inviting citizens to discuss an already crafted document such as a budget or a new law.

Citizens are generally unhappy with Government performance

Across the board the majority of citizens felt that government performance has either worsened or remained the same.

At the local government level, respondents rated performance around:

• clean water,
• garbage disposal,
• housing,
• road network maintenance,
• healthcare,
• employment creation,
• electricity,
• education.

The majority of the respondents (on average 89.93%) were disappointed by the quality of local service delivery.

At the central government level, there is a general sense of disappointment with government performance amongst respondents. Ninety per cent (90%) of respondents felt that government performance was low (poor). In a 2018 survey, 65% of respondents had ranked government’s performance as low. In December 2019, the rate was 90%.

Corruption is inhibiting government performance

The majority feel that the major factor that is inhibiting government’s effectiveness is corruption, at both local and central government levels. The findings also suggest that government’s rhetoric against corruption has not yet yielded significant results. But sadly, very little has been done to contain corruption.

After corruption citizens cited ineffective leadership/incompetence by office holders as the next biggest cause behind government’s ineffectiveness

What do citizens feel that government should prioritize?

At the local government level:

• Water – 82.08% (same in 2018 survey)
• Clinics – 58.86%

At central government level:

• Measures to stabilise prices – 62.93. At time of survey, inflation was in the region of +500%
• Dealing with corruption, - 51.28%,
• Fixing cash shortages.

Methodology

The survey was a follow-up survey of the initial baseline survey conducted in November and December of 2018. Data was collected data across all the 10 Administrative Provinces of Zimbabwe through random sampling. The sample size was calculated on projected population figures for Zimbabwe from Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data computed that by end of 2019 Zimbabwe’s population was 14.65 million made up of 7.65 million females (52.2%) and 7.0 million (47.8%) males. Adult population, those 18 years of age and above approximately 56.9% (8.34 million) of the total population. The target was to interview a total of 2 400 respondents. Actual interviews 2 665 respondents. The data is considered representative with a 95% confidence level, a 2% margin of error.

Respondents’ Age and Marital status

Respondents age,
Youth
18 – 35 years, - 51.54%
26 – 35 years, - 31.8%
Young adults
3 – 45 years, - 25.21%
The population in Zimbabwe is very youthful and the distribution of respondents we have by age is somewhat similar to what is prevailing in the country

Married - 50.53%
Single – 35.09%
Divorced - 7.47%
Widowed - 6.91%
These figures potentially suggest that the country has lower divorce rates compared to other countries.

Literacy Levels

An overwhelming majority (99.02%) of respondents could read and write. These figures are mostly associated with developed economies especially Scandinavian countries. In many other African countries illiteracy rates are much higher than what prevails in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the majority (52%) of the respondents have attained education up to secondary level, suggesting that they have spent at least 13 years in a formal school environment. The second largest (43%) cohort are those who have attained tertiary education qualification

Accommodation Arrangements

Rent - 38.37%
Live with family or friends - 33.28%
Own home - 19.32% (3% paying off mortgages)

These findings suggest the fact that the majority of the respondents still have to cover monthly rental costs which can cause further strain on limited incomes.

Houses - 47%
Rooms in a house - 27.89%

Income Ranges

Z$ 1 to 1000 - 55.42%
Z$ 1 001 to 3 000 – 27.90%
Z$ 3 000 to 9 000 – 14.70%
Z$ 9 001 to 15 000 – 1.31%
Over Z$ 15 000 – less than 1%

Rate of the day about 20 to 1. Inflation rate 529% in December 2019.

Conclusion

The findings suggest a general sense of despondency and disappointment with both local authorities and central government. The socio-economic conditions have worsened across the country exacerbated by the poor rains which negatively affected agriculture. There is no significant traction on attracting foreign direct investment- the number of unemployed has been on the increase. The violent crackdown on protesters soon after elections in 2018 and also in January 2019 seem to have negatively affected the reputation of the government before they had even settled down. The failure to account for public resources such as the debacle around the US$3 billion lost through Command Agriculture has also served to fuel thinking that nothing has changed in terms of public accountability. There is need to address the systematic causes of the crisis by ensuring that there is improved accountability on how public resources are being utilized. Government needs to reorient towards a more pro-poor policy framework by ensuring that the 2% collected from citizens is redirected towards improving social policy performance. The re-engagement efforts especially the settling of international debts should not be done at the expense of national wellbeing. Instead the government pursue debt rescheduling agreements that contribute towards creation of a fiscal space for economic recovery.

<ref name="Dancing On The Same Spot"> Dancing On The Same Spot, Dancing On The Same Spot. Survey Report on Citizen’s Perceptions and Expectations, Published: May 2020, Retrieved: 7 July2020<ref>

SIVIO Institute

SIVIO Institute (SI) is an independent organisation focused on ensuring that citizens are at the centre of processes of economic-political-economic and policy change. It aims to contribute towards Zimbabwe’s inclusive socio-economic transformation by working with communities to mobilize their assets to resolve some of the immediate problems they face.

SI has three centres/programs of work focused on; (i) public policy analysis and advocacy (ii) philanthropy and communities (iii) entrepreneurship and financial inclusion.

SI addresses the following problems:

• Inadequate performance of existing political and economic system
• Increasing poverty and inequality
• Limited coherence of policies across sectors
• Ineffectual participation in public processes by non-state actors
• Increased dependence on external resources and limited leveraging of local resources

Website: visiting <www.zimcitizenswatch.org>
Also on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Email: <info@sivioinstitute.org> (also to be included on mailing list to receive further reports.)