Czech your humour: how satire earned the ire of Senzo Mchunu

Satire has always been the backbone of South African comedy, where we roll on the floor laughing at jokes that poke fun at politicians.

Elected government officials and even presidents have always been fair game and a staple for comedians, but they got a rude awakening after the raid on Anton Taylor over his satirical TikTok video.

Czech your humour

In it, he plays the role of a Czechoslovakian drug kingpin, where he lampoons suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu, saying that he bribed Mchunu with prostitutes and a luxury car. Mchunu was having none of it and brought criminal charges against Taylor.

It is believed to be the first time that a member of parliament has brought criminal charges against a comedian.

The shenanigans of our politicians have a long history of providing comedians with content ideas that have entertained us and made our stomachs hurt from laughing.

"Independent Media Lifestyle" trawled back in time to find out how many other mirthful moments turned sour for comedians.

Comedy of Errors

Perhaps the best-known South African comedian is Pieter-Dirk Uys, who honed his satire skills using an endless supply of material that came free of charge from the apartheid regime.

He took to the stage dressed up as the finger-wagging second-last apartheid president, PW Botha, and cabinet ministers even booked to watch his show, knowing full well he'd aim at them.

They seemed impervious to his satire. Maybe they never really understood how it worked.

Unlike the heavy censorship Uys faced under the apartheid regime, the ANC government has largely tolerated his satire. Even Nelson Mandela saw the value in Uys' commentary for a nation that has a knack for laughing at itself.

Winnie Mandela even once sent Uys a photo of herself with the note, "When you do me, make me look like this".

As his alter ego Evita Bezuidenhout, Uys carried on taking the mickey out of politicians after democracy in 1994, once describing Fikile Mbalula as "the transport minister who killed all the trains".

He has used satire to highlight the ANC's shortcomings, including corruption, hypocrisy and poor governance.

On the topic of politicians, Uys once famously said: "Hypocrisy is the Vaseline of political intercourse. People who regularly abuse power don't like being laughed at".

And while his criticism has been biting, it is widely viewed as part of his role as a public intellectual and satirist who holds power to account, rather than as a personal feud.

Not so funny

Funny man Loyiso Gola faced backlash for his commentary featured in a video interview with journalist Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh.

In it, he criticised the ANC and its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, referring to improvements under Ramaphosa as a "false dream" and branding the first citizen as a "disaster".

But he redeemed himself on the "Showmax Roast of Helen Zille" a few months ago. While many agreed with his sentiment, others defended the party from his onslaught.

An aspiring comedian, Thomas Torr, found himself guilty of hate speech earlier this year, following a complaint from the Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies. 

He'd posted antisemitic videos online containing statements that incited harm against the Jewish community, and was found guilty by the Equality Court.

And while comedians have, up until now, escaped censure from politicians, they have long fretted over hate crimes and hate speech laws, lamenting that these well-meaning laws could criminalise their jokes.

But as my father used to say, "he who laughs last, laughs the loudest", and the Instagram comments on Taylor's post are emblematic of this: "Maybe Senzo is pissed off at the fact that you made empty promises. Where is the BMW promised in this video? 😂😂😂😂😂."

Another post read: "Can't believe you got raided for this video. He made his 'problem' a bigger problem."