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If Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s budget cannot save South Africa from the clutches of economic ruin, at least the minister can say that he kept up with the Kardashians.
This is according to data from global internet search engine giant Google. The company released a statement saying that South African users generated more than 100 000 searches for Wednesday’s Budget speech.
Mboweni's address even trumped reality show's most famous family, the Kardashians, who had to settle for second place on the list of top search queries on Google in South Africa.
Mboweni’s self-styled delivery and casual demeanour has drawn both praise and criticism - with some welcoming his frank account of the dire state of SA's finances and others viewing him as callous and indifferent.
During his Budget speech, Mboweni was blunt about government’s need to reconsider its ownership of loss-making utilities, as well as containing the public service wage bill and wresting salary increases for Members of Parliament.
Meanwhile the Kardashians still left South African Google users’ tongues wagging with rumours that Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend and father of her child, Tristan Thompson, had an affair with fellow reality TV star, Jordyn Woods.
