AT a packed comedy night in Johannesburg, laughter rang out as stand-up performers skewered the bizarre spectacle of a chartered flight that carried around 50 white South Africans to the United States for what was reportedly ‘refugee resettlement’.
According to a report by AFP, the show took place exactly one week after the flight departed, and no comic could resist poking fun at the controversy.
Tsitsi Chiumya, a 31-year-old stand-up star, drew howls from the audience when he spotted a white couple in the diverse crowd and theatrically gasped: ‘White people! There are still some left! We need to make them extra comfortable.’
The event captured how many South Africans — across racial lines — are using comedy to push back against foreign narratives, especially claims promoted by former US President Donald Trump about the so-called persecution of white South Africans.
Comedians unite to dismantle disinformation
‘There’s no white genocide here,’ said Dillan Oliphant, referencing a baseless conspiracy theory Trump has repeatedly amplified. He added, with a grin, ‘We can’t kill the white people … They live too far away!’ — a nod to the persistent spatial segregation in South African cities shaped by apartheid’s legacy.
Co-host Shanray van Wyk, an Afrikaans-speaking comedian from the Coloured community, also joined in. ‘I tried to apply [for refugee status] because I’m Afrikaans,’ he joked. ‘But they were very specific,’ he said, gesturing to his skin tone as the audience roared in response.
The sold-out night, which drew South Africans of all backgrounds, typified how satire has become a way to both process social pressures and debunk misinformation.
Trump claims fuelled by distortion, say comics
Trump’s comments — which have included warnings about attacks on white farmers and alleged anti-white persecution — have been widely ridiculed in South Africa, where apartheid’s social and economic effects remain visible more than 30 years after its collapse.
Anton Taylor, a social media comedian and actor with Afrikaner and English heritage, has released viral skits mocking the narrative. In one TikTok clip with over 100,000 views, he praises South Africa for producing ‘the best-fed, wealthiest refugees the world has ever seen’.
‘When you see the lifestyle that most white South Africans live, it is the furthest thing from persecution,’ Taylor told AFP. ‘It’s farcical, so I will keep making jokes to show just how absurd it really is.’
While white South Africans account for just 7.3 percent of the population, they still control the majority of agricultural land. Official statistics show white unemployment at under 7 percent, compared to 36 percent among the black majority.
Dark humour as a national coping tool
South Africans often turn to dark humour to confront the country’s many challenges — from high crime to chronic power cuts, crumbling infrastructure and political scandals.
‘It’s a trauma response,’ said comedian Dan Corder, who hosts a late-night satire show and has publicly debunked Trump’s claims. ‘It’s a way to laugh through the absurdity — through the corruption, the dysfunction, the roads falling apart.’
‘Humour has become a powerful tool to disarm misinformation,’ he added.
Ramaphosa-Trump meeting looms large
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to raise these issues when he meets Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday, amid a broader push to repair strained diplomatic relations between the two nations.
Corder said the meeting is likely to be diplomatically tense — but possibly comedic in its own right.
‘It feels like watching a strong, quiet parent wait for a petulant child to finish their tantrum,’ he laughed. ‘It’s going to be very funny — in the darkest, most South African way possible.’
