The survey found that just 3% of South Africans saw racism as a serious unresolved problem.
The majority of the interviewed sample of 2291 people\u201a across all nine provinces\u201a identified unemployment and poor service delivery as the most pressing problems
The institute said the African National Congress (ANC) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) often blamed the country\u2019s current problems of high unemployment\u201a low growth\u201a poor education and persistent inequality on racism and colonialism.
The survey\u201a conducted in September last year\u201a asked the respondents if they agreed with the statement that \u201call this talk about racism and colonialism is by politicians trying to find excuses for their own failures\u201d.
While 26% disagreed with the statement\u201a 49% endorsed the statement. Divergence across the colour line was marked\u201a because 46% of black people supported this view\u201a compared to 68% of whites.
\u201cThe IRR has long been concerned that politicians and other commentators might seek to foment racial divisions for political or ideological gain\u201a\u201d the IRR report released on Tuesday said.
The report noted that there were many in the ruling party and the EFF who sought to identify white racism \u2013 and the white privilege this supposedly sustained \u2013 as the key reason for persistent poverty and inequality within the country.
\u201cThis perspective plays a useful part in distracting attention from the ANC\u2019s many policy failures over the past 22 years.\u201d
The study said that\u201a since 1994\u201a the ANC had put its primary emphasis on redistribution rather than economic growth\u201a despite the fact redistribution would never be enough to meet the needs of an expanding population.
It said the ANC\u2019s policies had failed to overcome a host of barriers to upward mobility and had often made them worse.
These barriers included\u201a among others\u201a a meagre economic growth rate\u201a one of the worst public schooling systems in the world and a mistaken reliance on affirmative action measures.
\u201cIt is these factors\u201a rather than white racism\u201a that currently make it so very difficult to expand opportunities for the poor and overcome inequality between the different racial groups.\u201d<\/p>\n