Puppets take on politicians in South Africa: ZA News
Pushing the envelope is almost a political necessity in a country like South Africa, with a young democracy and a national memory of inhumane legislation and censorship. Artists and activists in the country have long cultivated a strong culture of political satire -- both as a reaction to apartheid and then, later, as a means to deal with a country in transition. Popular examples include Pieter Dirk Uys's alter ego in drag, Evita Bezuidenhout; Madam and Eve, the daily editorial comic strip poking fun at post-apartheid class and race relationships through stories of an employer and her domestic worker; as well as the (now defunct) spoof news website Hayibo.
ZA news, which lampoons South Africa's politicians and current affairs, is another such offering. First aired in 2009, its format is a news show made to look and sound like the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). This adds a new layer of parody: after commissioning the pilot, the SABC refused to air it. ZA News closely resembles the British Spitting Image (1984-1996), the French Les Guignols de l'info (1988- ) and more recently, from Kenya, The XYZ Show, which sets out to expose 'the rampant corruption and mismanagement of the country'.
Although the show is only broadcast online, ZA News has created partnerships with independent media as well as collaborated on a song and music video (Chicken to Change) with the band Freshlyground, to gain publicity and reach its audience. All episodes of ZA News are also available through its Youtube channel.
If it were broadcast on television, the show would reach many more people than the 10% of the South African population who have access to internet. ZA News, however, uses its ban from television to highlight the importance of freedom of expression and people's right to consume any media they want to. In most episodes, viewers are reminded "You're watching ZA News on the internet, because here we can". The SABC's refusal to broadcast the show strikes a nerve in a country where just 20 years ago newspapers would not get to readers before being stripped by the censors. Commenting on this, the show's producer Thierry Cassuto tells online newspaper The National, "It was a litmus test for democracy and the SABC. The SABC obviously failed that litmus test, but the good thing is South African democracy did not. I feel so happy that we are completely free on the internet."
FURTHER READING
ZA News and the irony of local satire facing extinction, Daily Maverick, 2011.
TV Puppet satire torments Kenyan elite, The Guardian, 2009.
VIDEOS
All ZA news episodes can be found on the ZA News website.
ZA News on Al Jazeera's Listening Post.
