Cyril Ramaphosa’s Mask Fail and 4 Other Times Politicians Were Caught on Camera in Embarrassing Situations
Some leaders are truly great at uniting the nation… while making fun of them. From falls to fails, politicians in Mzansi certainly have had moments that left them red in the face.
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Briefly News looks at some hilarious and meme-able moments that left citizens howling.
Source: UGC
1. Ramaphosa’s mask mistake
During an all-important family meeting at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa left citizens in stitches. While stressing the importance of wearing face masks, he catastrophically failed at putting one on while on live TV.
Our guy could be seen struggling to get his patterned presidential mask over his mouth and nose and instead ended up covering his eyes. South Africans wasted no time in poking fun at the president, who managed to add some humour to a devastating time in the country.
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Soon after, #CyrilMaskChallenge began trending on social media, and citizens shared hilarious pics of themselves with masks covering up their eyes. Ramaphosa also showed his humorous side when he trolled Mzansi during his following live address.
2. Was Nhlanhla Nene a chair man or chairman?
Arguably one of the most hilarious and embarrassing falls caught on camera was when former Finance Portfolio Committee chairman Nhlanhla Nene’s chair broke on live TV. While answering questions before the country’s mini-budget speech, a crack could be heard, and Nene’s face instantly turned grey.
Despite the fear visible on his face, the politician continued speaking during the live interview with presenter Hayde Fitzpatrick. Mere seconds later, the chair gave in, and Nene attempted to catch air to prevent the fall.
The clip left South Africans in stitches. However, the former chairman was a good sport about it.
According to the Daily Mail, when questioned about the fall, Nene said it was “quite embarrassing” as millions were watching the interview. He also laughed when a journalist asked if a bigger budget would be given to the SABC for sturdier furniture. Nene said the chair broke, and the wheel came off.
3. Jacob Zuma’s number mishap
Former President Jacob Zuma and numbers are not a winning combination. One of the most comical instances was when he gave clarity on the African National Congress’ membership numbers.
Zuma fumbled while attempting to read out the figures and told the crowd to “listen properly” while he struggled to explain the numbers correctly. The former president also did a little dance, seemingly out of frustration.
According to News24, the ruling party’s membership numbers dipped from 1.2 million to 769 870 in 2015, although JZ said the ANC initially had 110.2 million members.
Citizens found the whole situation humorous, with one person saying:
“But how is it possible for one organisation to have 100.2 million members in South Africa when we’re sitting at a population of 50 million people? Whoever wrote this speech must have been cracking with laughter. He/she should just write everything in words in future and never include figures.”
Honourable mentions:
Although these politicians aren’t South African, these moments ooze a certain level of embarrassment that cannot be ignored.
4. Robert Mugabe goes low
The late president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, left netizens chuckling after he missed a step and fell when he returned from a trip to Ethiopia. Despite the presidency’s best efforts to remove pictures of the fall from photographers, social media users got a hold of them and did not hold back their laughter.
The picture became an internet favourite and was often photoshopped into hilarious situations. The aftermath of the fall was even funnier, as many even attempted to deny that it happened.
According to Vox, Zimbabwe Information Minister Jonathan Moyo claimed that Mugabe never fell but tripped. A more bizarre explanation came from Mugabe’s party Zanu-PF which claimed the president was doing a “bounce”. At the time, the hashtag #MugabeFalls dominated trending lists on social media.
5. Bridge launch ends badly
Politicians and dignitaries gathered to launch a footbridge in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As they proudly cut the ribbon to unveil the architectural wonder, the bridge immediately collapsed beneath their feet.
The bridge seemingly gave way at the mid-section, with a host of VIPs still standing on it. In the video clip, onlookers could be heard cheering when the bridge collapsed into a stream.
The Guardian reported that no one was injured in the incident.
“This is so sad and embarrassing but hilariously funny. It’s like the ribbon was the switch kill for that bridge,” said one amused person.
DA’s Natasha Mazzone slammed for labelling EFF supporters “highly uneducated” while calling out Julius Malema
In a related matter, Briefly News also reported the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Shadow Minister of State Security Natasha Mazzone has challenged the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, to a public debate.
She called out the Red Beret’s leader for his recent remarks at a conference in Western Cape, where he stated that the party would seize power at any cost.
Mazzone has accused Malema of terrorism, sabotage, subversion, espionage, and organised crime in an open letter and plans to report him to the South African Security Agency.
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Source: Briefly News
