Floods, Facebook and Floyd: what was hot in South Africa this past week

Social media was last week awash by the #GautengFloods, according to analytics firm ROI Africa’s latest report.

According to stats siphoned from the web from the previous seven days, the rainfall in the country’s smallest province became social media’s most talked about event of the past week.

Ironically, #DayZero also trended as Cape Town received minimal rainfall.

Politics constituted the other share of the chatter, with Julius Malema and his EFF thrust firmly into the spotlight due to Floyd Shivambu’s handling of a journalist outside Parliament.

“#Malema told the media he is in charge of South Africa and he made several comments about #PeterDutton’s ‘White Farmers’ statement,” ROI Africa’s MD Tonya Khoury explains.

South Africa’s news followed a similar theme, focussing primarily on State Capture, Jacob Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Gauteng’s floods also featured (but only marginally), while Protea fast bowler Kagiso Rabada’s hearing was another prominent story.

And finally, internationally, US President Donald Trump remained a talking point. Surprise.

The gun control debate also peaked amid student protests across the United States, while Delete Facebook transcended its hashtag status to become a genuine news story.

Graphs: ROI Africa

Feature image: Jeppestown via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, resized)