‘No one is safe, but everyone is welcome’: ZANews now on TV

Online satirical puppet show, ZANEWS, has found a new home on satellite television provider TopTV‘s flagship channel, Top One.

ZANEWS keeps its audience abreast with a mix of the latest and most controversial current events in a “witty and unorthodox way”. The site parodies the formulaic style of media broadcasting in order to remind people that it is possible to engage humorously with societal issues that can often be a source of tension and frustration.

The show gained popularity online mainly on YouTube and its website, satirically chronicling the day to day of South African politics using puppets of some of the country’s most prominent figures.

“From Julius Malema’s ramblings to Jacob Zuma’s soothsaying and Helen Zille’s calculated tirades, ZANEWS captures the strange, rainbow-­coloured wilderness of South African politics in our own quirky, latexed fashion. With puppets designed by renowned satirical cartoonist Zapiro, ZANEWS offers a scathing yet side‐splitting take on the local milieu of South African life. No one is safe, but everyone is welcome,” says the site.

ZANEWS joins the ranks of other African satirical puppet shows of its kind such as Kenyan produced ‘The XYZ Show’. What all of these shows do have in common is that they are all produced locally for a local audience with puppet caricatures of mostly local politicians, celebrities and mirroring respective societies so that the audience can look, laugh and learn.

“ZANEWS is a strong well known South African brand. We are excited to have the programme on our platform as it is local, relevant, innovative and above all else, entertaining,” says Gugu Sibeko, vice-president of local content for Top TV.

“Our puppets are very happy to have a weekly slot on television at last. Laughter and satire are the best antidote to doom and gloom that may result from watching other well known Sunday night shows.” says ZANEWS producer and director Thierry Cassuto.

Fans of the TV puppet show can tune in on Sunday, 11 September at 9pm. The weekly slot will feature some of the country’s most famous and infamous characters, who will make you laugh at our foibles, ourselves, our leaders and SA as a whole.