Most South Africans are bound to enjoy 'Adapt or Fly'

LEADING South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys had the audiences in stitches at the Johannesburg Theatre with his new show, Adapt or Fly, over the Easter holidays.

His jokes made people laugh, but also think.

For example, Uys said that during the Truth and Reconciliation hearings, former South African politician, Pik Botha insisted he had never ever supported apartheid.

"The longest serving South African foreign affairs minister asked, how could he have supported apartheid when, in fact, he was hardly in the country because he was always travelling to foreign lands for diplomatic missions," Uys joked.

His witty, barbed-wire sharp humour kept digging deep into current local leaders' buffoonery too.

"I never run out of scripts because the politicians write them for me. However, when it came to former president Nelson Mandela, it was a tough time for me because how do you find fault with a man who has the qualities of a saint, an almost perfect individual?" Uys asked.

He made people laugh when he imitated the former president's manner of speaking, though he seemed to struggle to get the famous accent right.

"Mandela's accent is right here on this part of my throat," he pointed to his throat, then got the accent right.

He tore into politicians from the past as well as the current ones.

Adapt or Fly is a humorous journey into the sometimes dark alleys of South Africa's political journey, from apartheid right through to the present.

And, of course, there are also the squabbles within the ruling African National Congress.

The people Uys makes fun of in Adapt or Fly include apartheid politicians such as DF Malan, JG Strijdom, HF Verwoerd, BJ Vorster, PW Botha and FW de Klerk, as well as ANC presidents Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and the current president of the country and the ANC, Jacob Zuma.

Uys' satire included events right up to the present.

The comedian also has opinions on Julius Malema and his problems with the ANC leadership.

The audience was kept in stitches throughout the performance because Uys is a master at telling jokes, even the ones that not everyone, and especially politicians, like.

That is probably the reason why Uys, hard-hitting as he has always been, has managed to keep South Africans laughing for many decades. He is just too clever for the subjects of his satire as well as those steeped in rigid political ideologies as he tears them apart and systematically reassembles them in his satirical works.

Adapt or Fly is not for the fainthearted, though, nor is it for those who have no sense of humour because some of the jokes are highly sensitive and could upset some people.

Adapt or Fly is currently on at the Johannesburg Theatre in Braamfontein.

I would recommend the show to anyone who is even mildly interested in the politics and the politicians of South Africa.

Uys' take on the country's political commentary is delivered in a very humorous and clever way and I have no doubt that most South Africans are bound to enjoy Adapt or Fly.