SA's top searches: Father's Day, Monkey Pox and Eid Mubarak

8 Jun 2022

When is Father's Day? was the top searched for topic in May by South Africans, while an increase in Monkeypox cases piqued search interest as well. Based on Google search activity in May, the country was also concerned with Eid Mubarak and the Met Gala.

Source: © iol Actor Siyabonga Zubane, who died early in May, made the Google search list twice

Source: © iol iol Actor Siyabonga Zubane, who died early in May, made the Google search list twice

Also of interest was news of the repo rate increasing by 50 basis points last month to 4.75%, which saw many South Africans wanting to find out more about what it is.

Several high-profile deaths ranked in the top searched terms including those of former Johannesburg mayor Mpho Moerane, Hillary Gardee, and actor Ray Liotta.

Gomora actor on the list twice

Actor Siyabonga Zubane, who died early in May made the list twice, as people also searched for his well-loved character Sdumo, from the show Gomora.

In the top 10 searches, Mother’s Day messages also appeared in the Top 10 searches.

Many South Africans searched for more information on what Africa Day, celebrated on 25 May. Citizens were also curious about human rights, with the right to freedom of speech and the impact of social media on the right to privacy both appearing among the top 10 questions searched for in May.

On the sporting front, excitement around international events such as the Champions League final which saw Liverpool face off against Real Madrid and the Italian Open, won by Novak Djokovic were among the most searched locally.

Top 10 most searched questions

When is Father’s Day?
What is Monkeypox?
What is Eid Mubarak?
What is the Met Gala?
Explain what is meant by the right to freedom of expression?
Why is it important for the state to administer prices of certain goods?
What is the repo rate?
What is the impact of social media on the constitutional right to privacy?
When is the Champions League final?
What is Africa Day?

Top searched terms

Samthing Soweto
Mpho Moerane
Edwin Sodi
Mother’s Day messages
Siyabonga Zubane
Champions League final
Hillary Gardee
Sdumo from Gomora
Ray Liotta
Italian Open

Search trends information is gathered from data collated by Google based on what South Africans have been searching for. Google processes more than 40,000 search queries every second. This translates to more than a billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide.

Top searches indicate searches that topped Google’s charts while Most searched queries are the most popular terms for the past 15 years, ranked in order by volume of searches. Live Google search trends data is available at here