JOHANNESBURG - Search engine Google said on Friday that South Africans were starting to ask some very specific questions around the elections, with some indicating concern, as the 2019 general election draws closer on May 8.
"Will South Africa go into the elections peacefully?" has made it into the top 10 questions South Africans asked the Google Search engine this week.
This was alongside other questions around the type of electoral system the country has, how many ballot papers there are for the election, and how many people have registered to vote.
The African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters, and the Black First Land First made up the top three most searched political parties on Google last week while Julius Malema, Cyril Ramaphosa, Mmusi Maimane, Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi made up the top five candidates.
Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what South Africans have been searching for and asking Google.
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.
Among the top 10 questions asked on Google about the elections in South Africa this week were:
- When is election day 2019 South Africa?;
- Is election day a public holiday?;
- Who will win the 2019 elections?;
- How many parties registered for 2019 elections?;
- How many ballot papers for general election?;
- What is a by-election?;
- Will South Africa go into elections peacefully?;
- What type of electoral system does South Africa currently use?; and
- How many registered voters in South Africa?