Easter Un-usual
Although disruptive, most South Africans agree with the current (and extended) lockdown. Post the President’s announcement last week (9 April 2020), BMi Research conducted a survey using an online panel from Borderless Access*. 509 people were interviewed nationally over the Easter weekend. 95% of this sample agreed with the original 21-day lockdown and 89% agreed with the 2-week lockdown extension.
The Covid-19 virus continues to spread locally and globally as countries around the world struggle to “flatten the curve”. Our President announced that the South African lockdown was having a positive impact in slowing the rate of infection and we must now “sit tight” for a further 2 weeks of national lockdown. The survey also confirmed that sentiment towards the presidency is positive with an average 78.6 confidence in President Cyril Ramaphosa post his latest address.
What impact has the lockdown had on your Easter weekend plans?
The survey investigated the impact that the lockdown had on South Africa’s Easter weekend plans. 33% of those surveyed said they needed to cancel plans to spend time with their families. However, 33% said the lockdown extension had no impact on them at all. 19% said they could not attend religious services and 15% needed to cancel travel plans, perhaps leading directly to fewer road accidents over the popular SA long weekend.
This is the first Easter I can remember when we were not watching the death toll on our South African roads. Instead of watching the number of accidents on the evening news, South Africans entered the Easter weekend with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address.
With the Easter Un-Usual long weekend now behind us, we find ourselves entering a new world. As with many small businesses, BMi Research has been catalysed to make rapid changes, enabling staff to work from home and finding innovative ways to continue delivering market research solutions to our clients. Contact us for ongoing data and insight solutions.
| Jenni-Ruth Coggin, key account manager at BMi Research
Contact:
Kevin Kruger: [email protected]
Jenni-Ruth Coggin: [email protected]
Cindi Collett: [email protected]
Danie Botha: [email protected]
Borderless Access is an award-winning digital MR product and solutions company. Driven by technology and consumer-analytics, it provides access to experiences and life moments of engaged consumers, to its global clientele of MR firms, Ad Agencies, Consultancy firms, and End Enterprises, with its 5.8M+ hyper-niche proprietary digital panels and innovative research solutions and platforms – TAPP, SmartSight, and HealthSight.
Bev Tigar: [email protected]
www.borderlessaccess.com
*Of the 509 panel participants, 100% were South African and living in South Africa during the lockdown. 39% were in Gauteng, 23% in the Western Cape and 13% in Kwa Zulu Natal. 63% were female, 70% were aged 18-44 years old, 35% were Black and 50% were White. The sample was distributed equally across income groups.