RELIGIOSITY IN SOUTH AFRICA: TRENDS AMONG THE PUBLIC AND ELITES

Authors

  • Hennie Kotzé Stellenbosch University
  • Reinet Loubser Stellenbosch University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7833/116-1-1287

Keywords:

South Africa, Religiosity, Secularisation, Christianity, Values

Abstract

 This article uses statistical data from the World Values Survey (WVS) and the South African Opinion Leader Survey to examine religiosity among the following samples of South Africans: Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa and isiZulu speaking Protestants, Catholics, African Independent Church (AIC) members and non-religious people (public and parliamentarians). We find that mainline Protestant churches have suffered a loss of members, thus changing the denominational face of the country. Additionally, although South Africans remain very religious, the importance of God in their lives has declined. For many people God is now less important although not unimportant. Parliamentarians appear unaffected by these changes: God is still highly important to members of parliament who profess Christianity (the majority). However, the small number of parliamentarians who are not religious now think God is unimportant.

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Author Biographies

Hennie Kotzé, Stellenbosch University

Centre for International and Comparative Politics

Reinet Loubser, Stellenbosch University

Centre for International and Comparative Politics

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Published

2017-04-12

How to Cite

Kotzé, H., & Loubser, R. (2017). RELIGIOSITY IN SOUTH AFRICA: TRENDS AMONG THE PUBLIC AND ELITES. Scriptura: Journal for Biblical, Theological and Contextual Hermeneutics, 116(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.7833/116-1-1287

Issue

Vol. 116 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Articles

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