Johannesburg, 18 October — An unwitting voice for the voiceless, an A-lister fighting for her mental well-being, the face of the apartheid regime, and the Afcon 2019 qualifiers were amongst the most-searched terms on Google this week.
Hot off the heels of World Mental Health Awareness day it emerged that American singer, actress and producer Selena Gomez had been admitted to a mental health treatment facility after succumbing to a mental breakdown. South Africans who searched for the star, best known for being Justin Bieber’s former girlfriend, generated more than 5 000 “Selena Gomez” search queries on Google — a tie with those who searched for “France vs Iceland” on Thursday.
While the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank did not pull as many global viewers as that of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, it solicited a lot of internet interest in South Africa. The daughter of Britain’s Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson had South Africans googling “Princess Eugenie wedding” more than 50 000 times on Friday — a tie with “Pik Botha” who’s name generated the same number of searches following his death.
Over the weekend, football took the top spot for two consecutive days with South Africans searching “Bafana Bafana” more than 50 000 times on Saturday when they won 6-0 against Seychelles in their Afcon qualifier at the Stade Linite, and “Macufe Cup” generating more than 10 000 search queries on Sunday.
The first witness in the trial of rape- and human trafficking-accused pastor Timothy Omotoso, continued her appearance at the Port Elizabeth High Court on Monday. Cheryl Zondi’s testimony, as well as her strength and composure, led South Africans to laud her as the voice of countless South African women who fall victim to sexual violence every day. “Cheryl Zondi” garnered more than 100 000 Google search queries that day.
Bafana Bafana made it into the top search spot again on Tuesday, but for all the wrong reasons – this time the national team was unable to get any goals past Seychelles, resulting in a 0-0 draw at the Afcon qualifier. “Bafana Bafana” garnered 50 000 searches.
On Wednesday, amid waning chances of the national football team qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations, South Africans generated more than 10 000 search queries for “Afcon 2019 qualifiers.” Bafana Bafana’s next match will take place against the Super Eagles on 16 November 2018.
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