The study aims to assess how people in South Africa perceive the impact of the global economic crisis in Southern Africa and particularly the South African economy. From 2009 to 2010 the South African economy entered into a recession because of the global economic crisis, which was caused by the collapse of the United States' housing market. A survey questionnaire, which aimed to measure the perceptions of the impact of the global economic crisis on the South African economy, was administrated to 300 randomly selected students and staff at two universities and five townships in Cape Town. The research followed the procedure of random sampling with students and staff at two universities in Cape Town, and they were selected by the researcher and fieldworkers on an arbitrary basis. The employed field workers selected persons from townships on the same basis. A survey of the impact of the global economic crisis in South Africa found that a majority of respondents from universities and non-university subjects (170) agreed that the global economic crisis has impacted negatively on the South African economy. Hence, the South African government should carefully improve the policy.