'State capture' is the most popular phrase in SA: language board

“State capture” is the 2017 word of the year‚ having been used more than 20‚000 times‚ according to the Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb).

“It was found that 'State Capture' was used 20‚231 times in over 11‚000 South African newspapers. The majority of the coverage was found in Daily Newspapers‚ accounting for 68% of the total coverage mentioning 'state capture'‚ followed by Sunday Newspapers at 19%‚” the board said.

According to PanSALB‚ the use of the term has increased “significantly” in 2017.

“The concept of state capture has been in existence‚ but PanSALB has seen a spike in frequency this year in the context of the Gupta email leaks and systemic political corruption.”

PanSALB said it was unlikely that the use of the word would decrease‚ taking into account the upcoming ANC elective conference in December.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if state capture becomes one of the defining words of our time‚” said Pansalb chief executive Mpho Monareng.

For words to qualify for consideration‚ PanSALB looks for evidence that its usage has increased significantly across a broad range of media.

Other words that have been popular and made it to the shortlist are “blesser” and white “monopoly capital”.