Funnier than ANC Youth League press releases, more popular than nakedhelenzille.com, ZA News videos have now been watched almost 400 000 times since the series launched in early October.
Yep, that’s a lot of cackles, many of which have been contributed by the witch-like Helen Zille puppet stirring her Western Cape cauldron.
With a cast that includes a dozy Nelson Mandela, an impatient Archbishop Desmond Tutu, president-in-waiting Julius Malema, cigar-smoking barfly Thabo Mbeki and helium-head Bok coach Peter de Villiers, ZA News has built up a fanatical viewership.
There’s a new episode of ZA News every day Tuesday to Friday and a compendium episode every Saturday. Viewer figures are growing alarmingly and this week alone has seen a 35% growth in streams.
ZA News is also a partner in the Urtak.com survey website — where readers answer a dizzying array of questions with the responses “yes”, “no” or “don’t care”. Which is a lot harder than you’d imagine. So 59% of viewers watch ZA News every day and only 2% of them have more than one wife. Put those two stats together and we think you’ll agree that they are significant.
Go to mg.co.za/zanews if you like your politics leavened with a bit of humour. And if you want to embed the videos into your own website, blog or Facebook page, feel free. As with eructation, satire is better out than in.