This week’s cover of Friday features a bald man seated at a large desk with his back to the camera. A shower rose juts over his head. There are three women lolling about the room, one of whom is wearing a red dress and posing provocatively. To his right are two bottles of liquor, one of which bears a resemblance to J&B whisky, but which now reads J&Z. There is also a CD cover and a rolled-up banknote next to the drinks, with a small pile and three lines of a substance that looks suspiciously like cocaine.
In case there was any doubt, the photograph is titled “Pimp my President!” and the Puma logo has been doctored to read “Zuma”.
This is part of a new calendar from South African satirists Laugh it Off, which is due to be launched this weekend. Laugh it Off’s Justin Nurse drew the ire of the South African Breweries a few years back, which took exception to his “Black Labour, White Guilt” T-shirt.
There was talk that the Presidency would try to stop the publication of Friday, but this blew over before deadline.
Zuma probably will take exception to being portrayed as a womanising, cocaine-sniffing drunkard, as he’s already pursuing about a dozen cases of defamation against cartoonists and newspapers such as Rapport, the Star the Citizen and the Guardian.
Looking at the cases in which Zuma feels he has been wronged, some appear to be so innocuous that one wonders why the president is pursuing them. But then who are we to say what wounds him?
It also emerged this week that South African broadcasters have turned down the opportunity to air the political satire Z News, which features a no-holds-barred look at politicians and their foibles. An e.tv spokesperson was quoted as saying that production values were poor, and the show was “not funny”. If the howls of laughter heard in the M&G offices were anything to go by, e.tv, M-Net and the South African Broadcasting Corporation all seemed to have missed a trick. It appears more likely that the broadcasters are nervous about flighting the satire for fear of litigation.
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
Department of Transport
The Department of Transport and taxi bosses this week agreed that the bus rapid transport system should go ahead. This is as is should be, as far too much money has already been spent on the project. It now remains to be seen whether the parties can hammer out an agreement as to how the profits are going to be carved up. |
 SABC
How low can the public broadcaster go? There’s a stampede for the door among board members, and it wants a R2-billion bail-out from the government. It’s time for some real leadership. |
Most-read stories
June 4 to 11
1. Confed Cup security fiasco
A frantic behind-the-scenes drama was playing out at Safa House last Friday to secure the safety of international superstars and tourists attending the World Cup curtain-raiser, the Confederations Cup.
2. New Air France debris found, explosion unlikely
Search crews flying over the Atlantic found debris from a crashed Air France jet spread over more than 90km of ocean on Wednesday, reinforcing the possibility it broke up in the air.
3. The premier, the farm and the platinum mine
ANC heavyweight Ngoako Ramatlhodi’s hush-hush participation, while premier of Limpopo, in a property deal near a platinum mine raises new questions about his suitability for high office.
4. Air France plane sent 24 messages before crash
Brazilian search crews on Saturday retrieved the first bodies from a crashed Air France flight in the Atlantic, and investigators said faulty speed readings had been found on the same type of jets.
5. ANC plans new war on Cope
The ANC has identified the Congress of the People (Cope) as the main threat to the ruling party in the 2011 local government elections.
6. Zille shakes up SA politics
Helen Zille has a sharp tongue and a short fuse, and she doesn’t dodge a fight. In apartheid times she enraged South Africa’s white rulers, and lately she has ruffled South Africa’s black political establishment.
7. Crime is central problem for Soccer World Cup
South Africa’s fearsome record for robbery, murder and rape may be the single biggest challenge facing organisers of next year’s soccer World Cup.
8. Catholic Kama Sutra
The correct Roman Catholic sexual position is not, as many might imagine, missionary, infrequent and with the lights out, but “saucy, surprising and fantasy packed”.
9. Mystery deepens over missing Air France jet
Conflicting clues as to the cause of the loss of an Air France jet and the 228 people on board emerged on Thursday, deepening the mystery as the hunt for evidence intensified.
10. SA rocked by R10bn Ponzi scheme
One of South Africa’s largest Ponzi schemes, estimated to be worth up to R10-billion, has been uncovered, reports said on Thursday.