Zuma sure has staying power

Not even Oscar Pistorius, Brexit or Bonang have been able to push #ZumaMustFall off its top spot on social media.

For two-and-a-half years, the hashtag and related references - #JZ783, #ZumaMustGo, #ZumaGate, #ZumaStepDown #ImpeachZuma, #FireZuma, #PhansiZuma and #HambaZuma - have been trending.

Media monitoring company ROi Africa said #ZumaMustFall, created when the country went into protest mode amid a series of allegations against the president, reached its peak when President Jacob Zuma fired finance ministers Nhlanhla Nene and Pravin Gordhan.

"It continues to trend every day. The second a new story breaks about the president or the Guptas, the hashtag grows," said the company's MD, Tonya Khoury.

During the saga of the secret ballot on the vote on the motion of no confidence in Zuma, social media activity was greater than during the Oscar Pistorius trial.

"Pistorius was the biggest story the world had seen since the advent of social media. Zuma trended across the world when Pravin Gordhan was axed, beating stories like Brexit on the international charts," Khoury said.

She said #ZumaMustFall continues to trend because politics is "relentless" in South Africa.

"The second the EFF steps into parliament social media is set alight and most of the focus is on the president. We get hung up on a story but only until the next one comes along.

"Manana was a huge story but only for one week, Grace Mugabe, Cyril Ramaphosa, all last only a few days on the charts. The collective thought process on social media is that all will be fixed if the president steps down and hence the fixation on #ZumaMustFall," Khoury said.