Google has announced its annual Zeitgeist, offering a unique perspective on this year's major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted in South Africa.

Topping the list for overall trending South African searches in 2012 is free classifieds site, OLX - online buying and selling has become a popular means to get rid of those unwanted items.

Beloved songstress and world famous diva, the late Whitney Houston, claims second place on the South African list. Hurricane Sandy, which devastated portions of the US, the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic in October, came in third.

Whitney also takes the number one spot on the list of overall trending people in SA, followed closely by international athletics star, Caster Semenya and newsmaking social celebrity, Khanyi Mbau.

The Gangnam Style music video that has captured the attention of the planet and has worked its way into pop culture history comes in at number four in the overall trending searches. In fifth place is the 2012 Olympics, which also topped the trending events list.

South Africans kept it local with searches for short-lived airline, Velvet Sky, coming in at sixth place. Caster Semenya won a different kind of (online) medal by coming in as the fastest trending sportsperson of the year, followed closely by swimming hero, Chad le Clos.

2012 was perhaps the year of discovering love in South Africa with users asking 'how to kiss' and 'what is love?'. At the same time, unexpected hobbies seem to be making a comeback, with 'how to crochet' and 'how to knit' also making it into the top ten 'how tos'.

Last on the list, in terms of tech trends, the iPad 3 captured South Africa’s imagination, coming in 10th overall, and grabbing first place on the top gadgets list.

The entire top ten list of overall trending searches is as follows: OLX, Whitney Houston, Hurricane Sandy, Gangnam Style, Olympics, Velvet Sky, Caster Semenya, Diablo 3, Khanyi Mbau and iPad 3. 

To see more information about Google Zeitgeist across the globe, click here.