Thinking ‘proudly South African’, erstwhile minister Malusi Gigaba’s now infamous pinky finger salute in parliament recently must rank right up there with the vuvuzela.
It adds to a long list of great South African inventions like automatic pool cleaner, the safety syringe and the smocking pleater, to name a few.
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To hell with the western world’s boring ‘rigid digit’ or ‘the bird’. Now we have our very own obscene gesture that is fresh, unique and effective. The insult even makes the EFF see red.
Perhaps it will go viral and the Gigaba Pinky will also make it into Wikipedia.
According to the latter, the old ‘middle finger’ goes back to Ancient Greece with Aristophanes using it in his comedy ‘The Cloud’, in 423BC.
OK, so Socrates wasn’t too impressed and referred to the gesture as ‘boorish and stupid’. Pffft, what did he know?
Wikipedia also suggests that it might have been introduced to the Americans by Italian immigrants.
The Yanks certainly lapped it up and it has been used in public by everyone, from presidents to pop stars.
Think Lady Gaga… Malusi Gigaba?
Countries like North Korea had a rather rude introduction to the ‘finger’ during that war. An American ship was captured and the crew discretely gave the ‘up yours, Charlie’ in staged photo ops, ruining the enemy’s propaganda efforts.
The Americans told them it was a ‘Hawaiian good luck sign’.
Unfortunately, somebody eventually smelled a rat and the American prisoners were severely beaten up.
Our past president, Jacob Zuma, was very fond of showing the middle finger, but the jury’s out on whether he was using it in the traditional way to insult his detractors… or to push his glasses back on his nose.
Now our former Minister of Home Affairs has invented his own brand of insult with the EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi slotting into the records as the first recipient.
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