Africa · Saturday, 7 November 2026
South Africa
No written brief today: there’s too little data for one, or the draft didn’t pass our checks.
Rising
Breakout
New
Frank Schwichtenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rising
Hamilton Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0 Rising
Top today
Breakout
Hamilton Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0 Breakout
New
Frank Schwichtenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rising
Rising
Rising
Everyday apps here: Procreate · Google Maps · Bolt · LicenceTrackSA · Threema for iOS. Apps that top the charts every day. They’re listed after what’s new or in the news.
What the news is talking about
How much of the news here is about each issue today, and how it sounds, compared with the past 4 weeks. From 343 articles by the country’s own news sites today. How we read the news
Share of the coverage
- Democracy and elections More than usual
- Child Support Grant mom reveals what happens in her home when the R580 runs out (thesouthafrican.com)
- Over 170 000 employed through EPWP in Mpuma (sanews.gov.za)
- Weather warning: Why Gauteng's thunderstorms could be hectic on Sunday (citizen.co.za)
- WEATHER TODAY: Level 4 storm warning for Mpumalanga and KZN, Musina hits 40°C (thesouthafrican.com)
Survey · 2023 76% Worried about climate change (Climate Change Opinion Survey (Meta, Yale), survey of Facebook users)
- Mashaba rejects claims of election populism over ActionSA's immigration hardline (ewn.co.za)
- SA-born US police officer detained by immigration agents (channelafrica.co.za)
How the news sounds
- Tone−0.9positive minus negative words per 100usually −0.7The GDELT Project
- Anxiety0.7× usual2.1 words per 1,000usually 3.1The GDELT Project
- Fear1.0× usual0.6 words per 1,000usually 0.6The GDELT Project
- Anger0.9× usual4.6 words per 1,000usually 5.3The GDELT Project
- Sadness0.9× usual6.5 words per 1,000usually 7.2The GDELT Project
- Happiness1.0× usual5.4 words per 1,000usually 5.4The GDELT Project
- Financial uncertainty0.9× usual6.5 words per 1,000usually 7.2The GDELT Project
News coverage in more than 100 languages, machine-translated and counted with English word lists, from The GDELT Project.
Pro The news mood day by day for the last 90 days, with each issue’s share, as CSV and PDF. Try Pro free for 7 days →
Issues people are looking up
The top topics in politics, the economy, tech, science, health, climate, education and society that people here read and search about today.
Hamilton Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0 US Embassy South Africa, Public domain New
Helen Zille, Public domain Rising
Conlan Houston, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rising
eNCA, CC BY 3.0 Rising
The White House, Public domain New
New
Rising on Google
Searches that grew the most in the week from Sunday, 25 October 2026, in most of the country’s regions.
By category
Business & economy
Hamilton Richards, CC BY-SA 3.0 Falling
Cars & transport
Everyday app
Nature, climate & disasters
Ziko van Dijk, CC BY-SA 4.0
Crime & justice
Weekly
Aruba Police Force (KPA, #13234), Public domain Rising
Books, arts & history
J. Malcolm Greany, Public domain Rising
Fashion & beauty
U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Brien Aho., Public domain Rising
Everyday app
Everyday app
Food & drink
Everyday app
Everyday app
Everyday app
Money & crypto
Falling Everyday app
Movies & TV
Breakout
Breakout
New
Music
Frank Schwichtenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rising
Rising
Politics & world affairs
Rising
US Embassy South Africa, Public domain New
Science & space
Henry Walter Barnett, Public domain
Sports
Stefano Delfrate, CC BY-SA 4.0 Breakout
The White House, Public domain New
US Embassy Johannesburg, South Africa, Public domain Rising
Tech & AI
Rising
Rising
Weekly
Travel & places
East_London_Town_Hall.JPG : Original photographer and uploader was Tim giddings…, Public domain Johnmars3, CC BY-SA 4.0 Rising
Industries here
Media & entertainment 21Sports & fitness 17Government & public sector 17Music 15Travel & tourism 6Tech & software 5Fashion & beauty 2Gaming 1Telecom & internet 1Health & pharma 1Nonprofits & NGOs 1
The numbers behind the mood
The latest official figures, with the period each one covers. Yearly numbers can be a year or more old.
Economy
- Inflation4.1%Jul 2026 · −0.7 pts since Jun 2026World Bank GEM · CC BY 4.0
- Unemployment32.9%Jun 2026 · +0.0 pts since May 2026World Bank GEM · CC BY 4.0
- Consumer confidence99.3100 = long-run averageMar 2026 · +0.1 since Feb 2026OECD
- Central bank rate7.25%Oct 2026 · ±0.00 pts since Sept 2026BIS
- Real house prices1.3%Q2 2026 · −1.4 pts since Q1 2026BIS
- GDP growth1.1%2025 · +0.6 pts since 2024World Bank · CC BY 4.0
- Youth unemployment59.9%2025 · −0.3 pts since 2024World Bank (ILO estimate) · CC BY 4.0
- Currency vs the euro18.465ZAR per euro6 Nov 2026 · euro −1.0% since 30 Oct 2026European Central Bank · available free of charge from the ECB
Business
- Business confidence100.4100 = long-run averageMar 2026 · +0.1 since Feb 2026OECD
Research
Most-published fields last month
- Education
- Sociology and Political Science
- Infectious Diseases
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
Society
- People online78.4%2024 · +0.0 pts since 2023World Bank (ITU) · CC BY 4.0
- Say humans mainly cause climate change27.8%survey of Facebook users2023Meta Data for Good and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication · CC0 (public domain)
- Want climate made a high government priority67.1%survey of Facebook users2023Meta Data for Good and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication · CC0 (public domain)
Charts
Netflix · TV
1How to Ruin Diwali
Breakout
2Black Gold
Falling
3The One About Matthew Perry
New
4Nobody Wants This
5Lupin
Rising
7The Four of Us
Falling
9A Couple of Lies
10Unforgettable
Netflix Top 10 · 2026-11-01
Netflix · Films
1Surviving Hurricane Otis
Breakout
2Collision Course
New
3Seriously Single Too
Falling
4Despicable Me 4
Falling
5Nowhere to Run
6Animals
Falling
7Which Brings Me to You
8Blackout
9Doing Life
10Money Train
Netflix Top 10 · 2026-11-01
Apple Music · Artists
1DJ Zinhle, Nayvee Womculo & Young Stunna
2Tman Xpress & Mellow & Sleazy
3Darque, Atmos Blaq, Zawadi Yamungu & Tycoon
4Thatohatsi & Sjava
5Stixx & Babalwa M
6Mihlali The Guy, Dankie Boi, Mr Thela & Cairo CPT
7G-Jealous
Rising
Frank Schwichtenberg, CC BY-SA 4.0 9Future
Rising
10Dlala Thukzin & Zeh McGeba
Apple Music · 2026-11-08
Apple Podcasts · Shows
1Somnyama Sunsets
2Global News Podcast
Rising
3Djy Jaivane
4The Diary of a CEO
Falling
5The Joe Rogan Experience
6Podcast and Chill with MacG
7Knight SA - MidTempo Sessions Uploads
Rising
8The Mel Robbins Podcast
9Crime Junkie
10The Rest Is History
Show the top 100
Apple Podcasts · 2026-11-08
App Store · Free apps
1Temu
2Google Maps
Rising
3ChatGPT
4Facebook app
5Capitec Bank
6Bolt
Rising
7SHEIN - Shopping Online
8CapCut
9InDrive
Rising
10Tiktok
Show the top 100
App Store · 2026-11-08
App Store · Paid apps
1Grade 12 Life Sciences
2Difela Tsa Sione by ZolApps
3Sasol eBirds Southern Africa
Rising
4Chromagraph Camera
Rising
5Grade 10 Mathematics
Rising
6Procreate
Rising
7Grade 10 Life Sciences
Falling
8FL Studio Mobile
Rising
9Grade 11 Mathematics
Falling
10LicenceTrackSA
Rising
Show the top 50
App Store · 2026-11-08
Data credits: App Store · Apple Music · Apple Podcasts · Google Trends · Netflix Top 10 · Wikipedia. These signals show what people look up, watch, play and buy online. How it works.