QUIRKY WORLD ... Zuma’s $16m ‘revamp’ a goldmine for comedians

SOUTH AFRICA: With their economy flatlining, currency on the ropes and politics in turmoil, many South Africans are turning to humor for relief, mainly at the expense of President Jacob Zuma and his $16m home improvements.

Within minutes of Zuma surviving Tuesday’s heated impeachment vote in parliament thanks to unanimous support from African National Congress (ANC) loyalists, the 73-year-old traditionalist Zulu was facing another roasting on the nation’s irreverent stand-up circuit.

“Jacob Zuma is the dude who just threw up all over the dance floor but still doesn’t want to go home,” comedian Lazola Gola quipped, to roars of laughter at an open mike event at Kitchener’s Bar, a 100-year-old watering hole built in the heyday of Johannesburg’s gold rush.