Source: http://fm4.orf.at/stories/1602455/

South Africa votes

How far can you say what you want to say in the Rainbow Nation? How free is the media and the press?

This week the South African Broadcasting Corporation axed a special show looking at political satire in the country. Two months ago TV management also put a stop to a satirical puppet show “Z-News” featuring puppet caricatures of political figures such as president in waiting Jacob Zuma.

Z-News was modeled on British spoof TV series Spitting Image and the puppets were based on cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro caricatures.

Zuma has provided a wealth of material for satirists – especially over his comments that he took a shower after sex with a woman with HIV – as a precaution against becoming infected himself. Jacob Zuma is involved in a string of defamation lawsuits against: South African media houses, cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (better known by his pen name “Zapiro”) and the UK’s Guardian Newspaper.
In light of this Justin Nurse’s company Laugh It Off brought out a new soap – the Zuma Shower Gel, with the tag line “feel presidential” and the precaution: “Do not think that by using this product you can wash HIV/Aids away”.

Kerry Skying asked him what he feels about the lid being put on satire by the state broadcaster.

Justin: I think it sends out a message that the state of South Africa is a sensitive topic at the moments. Satire is just one of the buttons – when it gets pushed it comes up “red alert??. The fact that the government media is clamping down on shows about satire and our next President is suing cartoonists for cartoons in two of the most popular newspapers .. maybe it’s a bad omen.

Kerry: Let’s talk about one of the jokes. A cartoon of Jacob Zuma with a shower on top of his head?

Justin: He slept with a woman knowing that she had HIV and after he slept with her he had a shower – the implication was that he had a shower to get rid of HIV and the media and the public jumped on that bandwagon and Zapiro drew him henceforth with a shower just hanging above his head.

Kerry: And your Zuma shower gel is also inspired by this incident?

Justin: (I’m) trying to make that same kind of comment that you can’t just wash AIDS away….

Kerry: So you see it as your role to provoke the politicians?

Justin: I suppose as a court jester – the guy who’s in there making people laugh but you’ve got to be in there and you can’t just throw rocks at the system from outside. You’ve got to have some kind of media platform and I think that’s what inspires healthy debate. And when that debate becomes a little bit too one-sided in terms of the government dictating what you pay your TV license for – that’s a scary thought. Freedom of speech goes out of the window.

Kerry: Satire was also used against the apartheid regime….Mr Zuma’s old enemy so (this is all) a bit ironic?

Justin: It’s an irony but I don’t know if they see it.

Jacob Zuma

Reality Check: South Africa

Reality Check gibt’s auch als Reality Check Podcast

As South Africans are about to go to the polls this coming Wednesday, we took a look at the state of the nation.

“”Reality Check: South Africa” can be heard by clicking on the link below.