Cape Town – Eskom’s load shedding woes and the firing of Nhlanhla Nene as finance minister were the two most popular topics among Fin24 and News24 readers in 2015, data shows.
Of the 50 most read stories on Fin24 from January 1 to December 29, 17 were stories relating to Eskom and load shedding. Brace for more load shedding was the third most read story this year.
The #NeneGate drama that resulted in South Africa having three finance ministers in one week in December will go down as an infamous chapter in the country’s history. There were eight stories in the top 50 most read, highlighting the amount of attention the topic received.
Live updates following the reappointment of Pravin Gordhan as finance minister earlier in December was the fourth most read story on Fin24.
A focus on wealth and investment was well received by Fin24 readers, whose interest was piqued by stories about the wealthy as well as investment tips.
The top 10 most expensive suburbs in SA was in the top 10 most read stories, while Why SA’s most expensive home costs R450m was not far behind.
The annual budget speech by Nene was once again a popular read, with the live updates of the event being the second most read story of the year.
Fin24's top story
Sometimes it is not major events that result in the most interest in a story, but rather a unique insight that affects all South Africans.
That insight resulted in the most read story of the year being about the most stolen car in South Africa, which was published in September.
“Vehicle theft is big business in South Africa where it is said that one car is stolen every nine minutes,” the story explains.
Other topics that were in the top 50 most read included stories about scams, savings tips, tech news, market news and economic forecasts.
An alert on Fin24’s Tech section about a Whatsapp scam was the fifth most read story.
Other parastatals in crisis, such as the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and South African Airways, also had stories in the top 50.