Objectives
South Africa was the worst affected country in Africa by the COVID-19 pandemic and it is important to interrogate the attitude of the populace towards the pandemic for future interventions. Therefore, this study examined effects of mass media messages, susceptibility to COVID-19 and self-rated health on the attitudes of South Africans towards the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods
Data was from the National Income Dynamics Study – Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) of 2021 which is a nationally representative panel survey of about 7,000 South African individuals in all the nine provinces. Analyses of data were through descriptive statistics, chi square test and logistic regression models.

Results
The results showed that 61.28 percent of the respondents did not take COVID-19 test while 91.09 percent of them engaged in behavioral changes such as social distancing and wearing of face masks. In addition, 74.27 percent of the respondents had access to mass media information, 70.44 percent believed they have good physical health while 32.43 percent felt they were not susceptible to COVID-19. The chi-square results of attitude towards COVID-19 showed significant differences in access to mass media messages on COVID-19, race, and province of residence. Furthermore, respondents who had access to mass media information on COVID-19 (OR?=?1.469; p?=?0.001) and respondents who believed that they were susceptible to COVID-19 infection (OR?=?1.443; p?=?0.001) were significantly associated with increased likelihood of engagement in behavioral changes to avoid the COVID-19.

Conclusion
These findings therefore emphasize the need for increased awareness and sensitization of the people about the susceptibility and adverse effects of diseases to ensure that they adopt the appropriate attitudes that will safeguard them from such diseases outbreak.