We laughed, we cried and we celebrated new life, these are Eyewitness News’ most-read lifestyle stories of 2021.
An image of Shona Ferguson used on the funeral programme. Picture: Via Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG – As 2021 draws to an end, we can all agree that we needed some light news to help cope with the high cost of living and the coronavirus pandemic.
Things were not always serious or sad; the world celebrated with British supermodel Naomi Campbell as she welcomed her first child at the age of 50 and Eyewitness News pulled the biggest stunt on April’s Fool with the help of sports journalist Robert Marawa.
Eyewitness News looks at the top five most-read lifestyle stories that you clicked on from 2021:
1. Naomi Campbell (50) welcomes her first child
Sitting at number one is Campbell’s announcement that she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in May.
The supermodel took to Instagram to share the news with the world and added a picture of her hand cradling a tiny pair of infant feet.
“A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother,” Campbell captioned the photo.
2. VW says regrets name change prank after outcry
Just two days before April Fool’s Day, Volkswagen said that it would be changing the name of its US subsidiary to “Voltswagen” to highlight its shift towards electric cars.
Most people thought it was an April Fool’s joke and slammed the company for pulling such a move. The story on VW’s apology was your second most read on the Eyewitness News website.
“Volkswagen of America developed… a national US marketing campaign, with a wink, to draw attention to Volkswagen’s e-offensive,” VW spokesperson Christoph Ludewig told AFP.
“From the start, the goal was to generate attention for an important corporate and industry topic in the USA. The large amount of positive feedback on social media shows we achieved this goal. At the same time, we regret if in the eyes of some, we overshot the mark of the campaign,” he added.
Reporters labelled the stunt tone-deaf and a breach of trust.
3. New Bafana coach Robert Marawa ready to lead team to World Cup
Now this is how you pull the best April Fool’s Day prank (VW, please take notes).
Eyewitness News roped in sports broadcaster Robert Marawa in a joke that left South Africans in stitches.
The prank centred around Marawa being the new coach of Bafana Bafana and even quoted him saying he was ready for that role.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting the guys and making some massive changes into the Bafana Bafana structure and calling players that haven’t been seen and players that haven’t even been heard of but who are South African. Here’s to a journey and I hope that South Africans will support me. I am ready to take on this new role as Bafana Bafana coach.”
But of course, it was all a joke and Marawa later clarified that he was not appointed Bafana coach and he had a great time fooling almost everyone.
4. UK public turn against Meghan and Harry after racism claims
We can’t deny how explosive the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey was, from their love story to the racism claims, the world was tuned in to hear it all.
The queen of talk sat down with the pair in March, with more than 11 million people in Britain and 50 million in the United States watching the couple claim that an unnamed royal had asked how dark their baby’s skin would be.
A YouGov poll said following that interview, UK public turned against Meghan and Harry, with Harry’s popularity rating falling to 44% and for the first time, a larger proportion of British people viewed him negatively (48%).
The results contrasted with a US poll by Morning Consult, which found the Oprah interview boosted the couple’s popularity there by more than 20 percentage points, with 69% taking a favourable view of Harry and 67% of Meghan.
5. Actor and producer Shona Ferguson passes away
It was in July when South Africa learned of the shocking passing of actor and producer Shona Ferguson and immediately started sending messages of condolences to his loved ones.
A statement from the family said: “Mr Ferguson’s untimely passing was due to COVID-19 related complications, and not a heart operation as reported in the media.”
He was 47-years-old and started his acting career as Ace in the TV series Generations. From there, he went on to star in popular local productions such as _Muvhango _and The Wild.
He started the production company Ferguson Films with his wife Connie Ferguson in 2010, who both starred in the company’s first TV production, Rockville.
Delivering a eulogy in a pre-recorded audio message, Connie said: “Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be in this position that I am in today – speaking as I am today, without your physical presence. Sho, I thought you and I were going to grow old together. That’s what I saw. That’s what I saw for myself; that’s what I saw for us. That’s always been the dream. I never, never anticipated where we are today.”
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