The Lighter Side of a Dark Week in South Africa

After what some media in South Africa have labelled a ‘dark week’ – in which SA student protests turned violent, vehicles were burnt in Braamfontein, the Public Protector was prevented from releasing her State Capture report before leaving office, a summons was issued for Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Rand dropped – there have been a couple of “lighter” moments (albeit not all intentional)…

First, the country’s President had a dance off in Kenya that ‘surprised’ even the Washington Post…

WP wrote: “It’s been a bruising week in South African politics, but you wouldn’t know it from a video going the rounds of Jacob Zuma… at a state dinner in Kenya. He twirls on the checkered dance floor and shows off a few moves that would make any 74-year-old proud.” (Read the Post’s full article ‘South Africa’s Government is at War with Itself’ here.)

And then a student at the University of Cape Town (UCT) sparked #ScienceMustFall outrage with her suggestions (watch the original here)… which led to jokes and memes.

Below is the most popular #ScienceMustFall Response – a mash-up with classics from US comedian Kevin Hart (some foul language):

And ignited the re-sharing of a Buzz Nigeria article from September making fun of South Africa’s Education Minister Blade Nzimande.

The tongue-in-cheek article claimed Nzimande has “announced plans to have witchcraft included in the curriculum from 2018″.

Nzimande is ‘quoted’ as saying: “I spoke to Gibs (Minister of Home affairs Malusi Gigaba) and he agreed to issue witches from outside South Africa with permanent residence permits. I heard Malawi and Zimbabwe have an impressive collection of witches. We are hoping they will heed the call.”

The Washington Post posted this tweet in their article about South Africa’s week:

https://twitter.com/jasonadriaan/status/785760612831760384

Even the American presidential debate made us laugh at ourselves: (Watch Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump debate in Afrikaans accents here.)

But, as SAPeople follower Tshepo Motsema says: “There actually are a lot of positives if you sieve through the kak that’s in the media.”

Here are just some of this week’s good news stories:

Thuli Madonsela gave an awesome speech.
The Proteas beat Australia in a historical whitewash.
Mamelodi Sundowns beat Egypt’s Zamalek. Just one more match and they could be crowned Africa’s champion club side!
Students in Cape Town held a beautiful Candlelit vigil
Former Joburg Mayor Parks Tau was elected President of top world body UCLG