Information about Eskom’s power crisis is one of the hottest topics that South Africans searched for on Google during April.
According to Google’s Trends tool, “load shedding” is one of the top searches performed locally as South Africans face the prospect of a winter with unreliable electricity supply.
But if the search results are anything to go by, more people are becoming aware of the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
“Ironically, Earth Day Quiz, the number one search term for all of April, was the only other thing South Africans Googled about more than load shedding. The Earth Day Quiz was the doodle Google created to mark Earth Day on 22 April,” said Google.
Beyond the issues around power, many people also searched for content related to the xenophobic attacks hurting South Africa’s international reputation.
“Other notable, and heart-breaking stories that South Africans followed this month, according to what was most searched on Google in South Africa, included: Helen Zille stepping down as leader of the Democratic Alliance; the Cecil John Rhodes statue being removed from the University of Cape Town; Brian Molefe taking over as CEO of Eskom; and the shocking deaths of Port Elizabeth teacher Jayde Panayiotou and Chris Nkosi, the Gauteng secretary for the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union,” Google said.
South Africans also searched for sports content during April, particularly related to Premier Soccer League (PSL) matches.
“There were 31 clusters of football related search terms, with Kaizer Chiefs — which clinched the PSL this month — being the team most searched for in South Africa,” said the search giant.
The deaths of John “Shoes” Moshoeu and Richard Henyekane topped sports searches in South Africa.
Google processes about 3,5bn searches per day. — Fin24
