Proud to be South African

South Africans are a nation filled with pride. A representative survey of South Africans across the country has found that 91% of us are proud to be South African – 76% of us are ‘very proud’ and 15% are ‘quite proud’. “It’s an astounding and inspiring finding,” says Yvonne Johnston, CEO of the International Marketing Council of South Africa, which is the custodian of Brand South Africa.

Gender, age, race, socio-economic status and education level make little difference, according to the 2007 Project Nation Survey, which is undertaken quarterly by the Government Communication and Information Service (GCIS).

In another study comparing national pride in 34 countries, SA scored fifth – behind Venezuela, the US, Australia and Austria. This study was carried out by the International Social Survey Programme, a consortium of survey researchers, in June last year.

Speculating on the reasons for SA’s high level of national pride, Johnston says that it can’t be attributed to one single event. “We haven’t won the Soccer World Cup – that will happen in 2010”, she laughs.

Instead she attributes SA’s extraordinarily high level of national pride to “the boundless achievements in the thirteen years of democracy”.