Laughter is the Band-Aid that soothes South Africans’ many traumas. We are quick to see the humour in even the darkest of times – nè, Eskom!

Not always clean and not always in good taste – but always quick off the mark –  South Africans’ gallow humour has become one of our nation’s defining characteristics. 

Even the South African government showed its wicked, um… side, when it appeared to make a dig at English flanker Tom Curry when it said in a statement after the Boks’ Rugby World Cup (RWC) victory that the ‘Webb Ellis [Cup] is in South Africa’s kant [side]!!’.

This was after Curry accused Bok hooker Bongi Mbonambi of directing a racist slur at him. Curry quickly became the victim of the South African public’s quick but scathing wit.

@chantelle_vogel #SAMA28 #afrikaansmynou #kiesjoukant #witkant ♬ Thunderstruck – AC/DC

The year that was… a smile review

Of course, South Africans are also known for their ubuntu (humanity to others) and are as generous with their smiles when it comes to ‘ah cute’ moments, as they are with their satire. 

After another tough year in Africa, Caxton Network News takes a look at what made South Africans smile this year.

Not long after the Curry-Mbonambi ‘wit kant’ controversy unfolded, load-shedding app EskomSePush changed its name to EskomSeKant.

SA’s favourite app strikes again 😂@EskomSePush nice one 😅 pic.twitter.com/qxuCXbJkU4

— Leanne Manas (@LeanneManas) October 26, 2023

In January, musician Dan Vee earned the nation’s mirth with a song that accurately summed up South Africans’ frustrations (Oh dear South Africa, what is going on… All our roads are bad and all our people sad).

@danvee Dear 🇿🇦! Let me know in the comments if you want a full version of this!#danvee #eskom #loadshedding #prayforsa ♬ Dear South Africa – Dan Vee

Mad ads

Remember the excitement felt in South Africa when large parts of the country were blanketed in snow in July? Iwisa got a laugh with its quick-thinking ‘amazing outdoor activation in Gauteng’. Given our high rate of unemployment, maize meal falling from the heavens would be people’s idea of utopia.

@donovangoliath❄️❄️❄️♬ original sound – donovan Goliath

If humour is one of South Africa’s crown jewels, in June beloved Bok Faf du Plessis won the right to display his ‘national treasure’ when the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) dismissed complaints that a Budget Insurance advert was ‘distasteful’. The 2022 advert featured Faf in his iconic SA flag-branded Speedo. 

In its argument, the advertiser said people are permitted to wear Speedos on public beaches and that Faf did not ruffle royal feathers during his very brief(s) meeting with Prince Harry after the 2019 RWC. As irrepressible as most South Africans, Speedo-clad Faf again served a generous dose of South African in-your-face patriotism after this year’s RWC final, this time when he hugged tennis legend Roger Federer. Eyes on the ball, Roger!

What’s a #RWC celebration without a customary Faf de Klerk speedo meet and greet 😂 #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/u5nvOgAfVS

— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) October 28, 2023

South African director of rugby Rassie Erasmus’ traffic light system in the RWC left some people bemused, but a quick-off-the-mark advert left everyone screaming with laughter, especially when it doomed Rassie to one day being in the ‘dom [stupid] squad’ 

The next advert that left us belly laughing is also RWC-themed – but we know readers will be ‘n bok [open to the fun of things] about the rugby overload – the event was so momentous it has to be tackled. The advert humorously captures what happens when your internet drops at crucial moments – ‘it’s enough to make a grown man cry’! 

Who could keep a straight face when King Price launched the country’s ‘new national anthem’, sung by Jenni Powa? Eina, Eskom – this one must have taken the light out of your already dim eyes!

Comedians who nailed it

The joke goes that we used to drive on the left side of the road in South Africa, but now we drive on what is left of the road.

Local comedian Themba Robin got to the murky bottom of the pothole situation with his ‘urban safari’ video, in which he introduced viewers to the South African pothole, a species ‘extinct only in the Western Cape’.

@thembarobin A new kinda Safari 😎 #UrbanSafari #phuzasafari #potholes #Valazonke #fyp #davidattenborough #southafricatiktok ♬ Innovative Tech – Robert Casal

Social media content creator Kookie Kuhle’s post-match interview series hits nerves and tickles the funny bone. His January Payday video’s statement that the ‘bigger the December, the longer the January’ echoed deep within people’s empty pockets.

@kookie_kuhle Post Match Interview – January Payday #januworry #payday #tiktoksouthafrica #mzansicomedy #fyp ♬ original sound – Kuhle Sonkosi

Everyday humour

Eben Etzebeth returned from France in October sporting a new RG Snyman hairstyle and a new name – Elizabedi. The nation just loved the fan who rechristened their hero.

Of course, anyone who heard the Springbok enforcer ululating on the sidelines of the RWC might agree that with the high notes he can reach, the name ‘Elizabedi’ is apt.

“Alililili 🗣️” – A certified Gwijo Squad Member

🇫🇷📍#CaptainsRun #Springboks #RWC2023#GwijoSquadAtRWC2023 #GwijoAtTheRugby pic.twitter.com/o949qAzcDj

— Gwijo Squad (@GwijoSquad) October 14, 2023

The #NoMoreYadaYada video left people in stitches. The chirps and inane comments on street WhatsApp groups were hilariously captured by Bouwer Bosch.

Aah… moments

South Africa could not help but smile at the ubuntu moment between two primary school classmates. When one got stage fright while delivering a speech, the power of unity was captured on video and stole our hearts.

Three-year-old Lethu Bhengu won a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice award in March. A video of her explaining how she learnt to read at age two made many eyes light up.

@lethu_nanasHow we taught Lethu yo read at 2 years old.♬ Paper Birds (3 min) – Jordan Halpern Schwartz

Then there is ‘Miss Albany’. Once you’ve seen the images, no words are needed.

The way this overwhelms me. We all know this is a story we all lived. The Joy of childhood memories. Thank you @MjajiLungisani for taking me back to my childhood. You captured this well. I cry every time. It’s the little things that matters. Keep soaring higher by God’s grace 😇 pic.twitter.com/tJXHrdGDcm

— Mmamoshidi (@KhozaHilda) July 13, 2023

Already a legend in the eyes of the nation following his superb RWC performance, Cheslin Kolbe stole hearts when he gave his world cup medal to I Feel Good singer and social media sensation Desmond Koolen (7). This after diminutive Desmond said he wanted to be a ‘pocket rocket’ just like Kolbe.

@rugbyworldcup What a selfless moment 🥹 #RWC2023 #cheslinkolbe ♬ original sound – 🎶🎧

Absolute glee

The nation was thrilled when the performers of Bayethe earned a Grammy for South Africa. Smiling came easy while watching Nomcebo Zikode, Wouter Kellerman and Zakes Bantwini’s post-award interview:

Amputee dancer Musa Motha’s inspiring performance on Britain’s Got Talent left people with a mix of smiles of wonder and gapes of disbelief. Despite having only one leg, he owned the stage!

Only in SA

Wildlife photographer Richard de Gouveia’s reaction was all-South African when he shouted ‘voetsek’ [go away] at a charging rhino. De Gouveia lived to tell the tale – that’s how universally known this lekker word is to all who call South Africa home!

[Warning: Strong language]

Another only-in-South Africa sighting was a meat-laden, sizzling spitbraai doing its thing on the back of a moving bakkie. When people say South Africans know how to roll with things, you’d better believe it!

 

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A post shared by Cooking on Coals Events (@cookingoncoalsevents)

The peculiar sight of cooking meat on the go pales in comparison to a live cow with its head sticking out the window of a moving taxi – packed with passengers and heaving under a mammoth load on its roof… with an additional passenger hanging for dear life onto the back.

That is it, folks, until 2024 dawns and South Africans laugh as they limp into another uncertain year. One thing is undeniable, though – with the national elections looming, there will be plenty of fodder for the humour mill.