Are South Africans 'culture vultures'?

TGI (Target Group Index) is a newly released data base that measures brand usage, lifestyles, attitudes and the media consumption of urban adult South Africans.

Going to an art gallery or exhibition achieved a penetration of just under 10%. Attendance at pop music concerts was claimed by some 10% of the total population.

The bulk (some 60%) of these "culture vultures" live in the larger metropolitan areas of South Africa. Opera and ballet support was more prevalent in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg, whilst plays and art gallery attendance showed a bias toward some of the smaller metropolitan areas like Pietermaritzburg, East London and Kimberly, probably reflecting the lack of live performances in these areas.

According to the TGI data, those viewing art at galleries and or art exhibitions tended to be older, 45 years or more, whilst live performances, apart from opera, showed an encouraging support from the younger members of the population, with plays and classical music scoring well amongst those under 35 years old. There was no significant gender bias reflected. Over 90% of those that attended live performances were well educated with at least senior schooling completed or with a post - matriculation qualification.

An interesting set of comparisons to these "cultural" activities [2.9 million South Africans] is that some 4.5 million South Africans (26%) claimed to have visited a casino in the last 12 months, 1.1 million (7%) went to soccer match, 457 000 (2.7%) to a rugby game and 379 000 (2.3%) to watch cricket. However, 45% of the population claims to watch at least one of these sports on TV!