Kisses and food fights: five hilarious moments from politicians this year

President Cyril Ramaphosa seen kissing members of the community in Kimberly.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi./The Sunday Times/TimesLIVE

This year has been a tough one for SA but trust our politicians to lighten the mood with their antics.

While the 2024 elections are nearly two years away, some of SA's most popular figures were on the campaign trail ahead of the ANC elective conference.

Others were just being silly and had social media in stitches with their jokes.

Here are five times this year that politicians has us in stitches:

KISS ME QUICK, MR PRESIDENT

President Cyril Ramaphosa had tongues wagging in October when he was spotted kissing gogos while out campaigning in Kimberley.

While in the town, Ramaphosa met several elderly women celebrating their friend’s 82nd birthday who lined up for a kiss from the president. Ramaphosa embraced many of them while he joked and smiled.

“Come, Mr Ramaphosa,” said one woman as she stepped in for a kiss.

While some thought it was cute, others claimed it was a desperate attempt to gain popularity before the party’s elective conference at the end of the year.

CELE'S MICROPHONE MOEMISH

Police minister Bheki Cele had SA in tears of laughter in April when a technical error derailed his speech in Diepsloot.

He was addressing disgruntled community members when he was interrupted by odd sounds coming out of his megaphone. 

Cele was somewhat irritated and told a police officer to sort it out.  

FOOD FIGHT 

Former finance minister Tito Mboweni and former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa had a hilarious exchange around factionalism and Mboweni's cooking.

It all started when Mboweni claimed factionalism in politics was not something new. Shilowa responded by dragging Mboweni’s cooking into the debate.

“Imagine if garlic, onion and tomatoes were to engage in factional fights! You would die of hunger,” he joked.

Mboweni took it in his stride, suggesting “a conference to discuss how to cook a good meal”.

MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND BROKEN TRAINS

Transport minister Fikile Mbalula felt the frustrations thousands of commuters feel every day when a train he was travelling on got stuck in July.

The minister was taking the trip to monitor the reopening of Cape Town’s central line. The line has been closed since 2019 because of theft and vandalism.

The incident was blamed on a power failure.

“We are not short of skills. We are here now to witness the resumption of limited service. We have seen a lot of challenges. We stopped at some point for the longest period because of electricity problems. There are other challenges that we’ve got of criminality. I have raised my concerns ... and advised what they (Prasa) need to do,” Mbalula said.

KISS THE BOER

EFF president Julius Malema showed the equality court in Johannesburg the meaning of love in February when he broke down the meaning of “kiss the Boer”.

Malema appeared at the court after AfriForum brought a civil case against him, his party and EFF MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi for allegedly singing the anti-apartheid song Dubul’ibhunu which translates to “shoot the Boer” or “kill the Boer”.

Appearing as a witness in the matter, Malema denied saying “shoot the Boer” during the chant, insisting that it was “shoot to kill, kiss the Boer, kiss the farmer”. 

Malema explained that “shoot to kill” meant shoot to kill enemy forces who are standing between people and freedom. 

“Kiss the Boer, kiss the farmer. I thought it’s English,” added Malema

“Kiss how?” asked AfriForum advocate Mark Oppenheimer. “Mwah,” said Malema, demonstrating a kiss.