President Jacob Zuma's popularity has increased over the last six months, according to the results of a poll conducted by research company Ipsos Markinor.

Most South Africans rated Zuma highly when asked in the survey to assess him on a scale of zero to ten - where zero meant "totally against" and ten "totally in favour of".

"Zuma's rating increased over the last six months from 6,1 out of ten - measured in April 2009 - to 7,6 out of ten."

The sociopolitical trends survey interviewed 3500 South Africans, aged 18 and older in October and November of last year.

"Although his rating among black people also increased, the increases among minority groups is the most notable.

On average, black people rated him at 8,2 in the latest statistics, compared with 7,3 in April.

His approval rating more than doubled amongst white people from 2,3 in April to 5,4 in the November ratings.

Indian people ranked him as a 6,7 in the most recent survey compared with April's 3,5 score and coloured people rated him at 5,9 compared with April's 2,6.

Given an election-style ballot paper to vote for their favourite party, 71% of the respondents put their cross next to the African National Congress (ANC).

The ANC is celebrating its 98th birthday on Friday.