Trending: Jail for a racist‚ Oz ball tampering and Easter

Trending on Good Friday in South Africa is‚ unsurprisingly‚ Easter and Good Friday. The other hot topic is Athol Trollip‚ Nelson Mandela Bay’s mayor and Democratic Alliance member‚ and the motion of no confidence against him by the Economic Freedom Fighters‚ backed by the ANC and the United Democratic Front (UDM).

The Patriotic Alliance at the last minute backed the DA. The council meeting descended into chaos and a walkout‚ with suggestions that perhaps no one wanted the vote to go ahead anyway.

In the week leading up to the long Easter weekend‚ the main searches were for the sentencing to jail of a racist and unsporting behaviour on the cricket field‚ according to Google.

The phrase “Australia ball tampering” had more than 50 000 searches after footage emerged of Oz batsman Cameron Bancroft rubbing what turned out to be sandpaper on the ball while on the field. It later emerged that captain Steve Smith and vice captain David Warner were involved.

Smith and Warner were banned from playing for Australia for a year and from holding leadership positions for two. Bancroft received a nine-month ban and coach Darren Lehmann quit as head coach of Australia even though he said he had no knowledge of the cheating.

On another sporting front‚ there were more than the 20 000 searches for Bafana Bafana‚ who emerged victorious over Zambia in the final of the Four Nations Cup.

But the event that grabbed the nation’s attention was the sentencing of estate agent Vicki Momberg to an effective two years’ imprisonment for her verbal attack on police officers using the k-word. She was found guilty of four counts of crimen injuria. Her sentencing was widely welcomed by South Africans.

Other terms to trend during the week include “Germany vs Brazil”‚ which resulted in a 1-0 win over world champions Germany‚ “Hermanus riots”‚ the land occupation in Zwelihle near the coastal town that involved damage to property displaced hundreds of immigrants‚ and “Jennifer Ferguson”‚ who laid a charge of rape against football boss Danny Jordaan.