The satirists and comics who stood up to Mugabe | Unreported World

Harare the capital of Zimbabwe is a city of intrigue where Robert Mugabe is in a circle in the sanno PF party are battling to be in charge when the aging president's gone the security services have always stamped out criticism of the government but now the city's independent newspapers are pushing the boundaries reporting who's up and who's down today's newspaper features quite a major development in Zimbabwean politics for over a year now there's been speculation that Grace Mugabe is going to take over from her husband but the papers today a claiming that Robert Mugabe is all but confirmed that she's now running zanu-pf and therefore the country but on state-run TV there's nothing about the battle for power DiCaprio uncovers through celebrating the life of President comrade Ruben our ji will grab his contribution to Zimbabwe liberation struggle government mouthpiece the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is famous for holding the party line and for its technical glitches [Music] now zbc is inspired an internet sensation a Zimbabwean join newspapers in criticizing the government and now on to an actual report based mainly on facts with splattering x' of good-will Zambezi news is a spoof news show featuring characters like the corrupt and very wealthy Minister for impending projects this mind is called mine mine because the mind is America a time of mine Minister's best friend blinguard weather partly cloudy isolated thundershowers and it never misses a chance to mock CBC's poor production values so if you're wearing what things sorry old things the authorities here have to taint people for insulting the president are you a high powered ruler do you often get stains from pesky journalists sketches like these cleverly avoid attacking the president directly do you find foreign governments in your under way I'm on my way to meet the people who make Zambezi news they described themselves as activists who use comedy to get their message across salmon roe and Tonga Mikawa are better known as comrade fatso and outspoken they've won international funding for their comedy and their work with local artists blitzing Facebook and Twitter and keeping people updated with everything we're doing outspoken and fat so met through the underground hip-hop scene growing up in a repressive Harare music gave them their first taste of free speech now they use satire to talk about everything from vote-rigging to corruption this week has always President Mugabe and his wife provide rich material news day which is independently owned and you've got like the state media The Herald and this is actually one story that was being covered when the president was booed recently in Zambia you can see like the independent press talking about the booing that then some got his image atom in the state-owned publication it's like he was welcomed in moussaka so you can see like these contrasting stories always alleging in the in the papers and then there's grace Maga Bea's latest venture a safari park she's taken over the farm and is is evicting 150 families she's released a hundred zebras onto the property and next up with a big five lions and buffaloes so if the police can evict the people then she'll make sure that the animals do so now I have a new Foreman only 1% of Zimbabweans are white being a multiracial team makes casting easier for sketches on topics like the seizure of land from white farmers this is now my new Foreman the former farmer for this area here and I've now taken over this is a bumper harvest which I will rip who says you can teach them new things there this is good there Seb the Zambezi cartoonist is doing a sketch about the grace McGarvey Safari story it's a brave topic to choose as journalists have been harassed for visiting the area have turned you know the Zebras are getting preference over the people and stuff so there have been a number of cases where those close to Mugabe have gained control over land while the villagers living there have been evicted [Music] because of an animal this is the rest of the villages disgruntled angry buoy did you feel like this was happening more and more now in Zimbabwe this kind of bubbling of a discontent yeah and it's getting louder but people are closed to really yeah and is that why you guys are feelings of empowered to say these things control the airings Maccabi recently said reforms backfired as some farms were too large for their new owners to manage critics say ministers seized ownership and sold off machinery for a quick profit today the economy's stagnant and three quarters of Zimbabweans live in poverty it's still a very cancerous state and I feel like it's like great feeding greed people failing to realize that there is enough for all but it's just that it's in the hands of the few that aren't willing to actually shape what's we got that we don't I don't get it politicians label anyone who accuses them of corruption or incompetence as unpatriotic more material for some PC news patriotism will hate you you haven't garden contains 51% serenity and other additives not to be sold to children with access to dual citizenship or black Zimbabweans with white tendencies available at all patriotism tuckshops supermarkets police stations roadblocks and militia camps nationwide by law all foreign companies here have to sell a majority stake it is in Bob Wayne owners drinks the cheaper the better there's a battle in Zimbabwe scores over free speech at the markets in recent years 80 people have been charged with insulting the president the Supreme Court's now ruled that that's unconstitutional recently cases have been thrown out of court situations encourage SEM B's and news to get bolder it's the bangbang comedy night this is put on by the Zambezi news crew they get in touch with all their friends comedians and satirist from all over Harare and they get the full crowd in here the team know that zimbabwe central intelligence organization are watching them the CIO has arrested and tortured hundreds of anti Mugabe activists over the years but so far they've left comedians alone they may be wary of foreign condemnation or distracted by infighting [Applause] even risking jokes about the first lady at the farm crossing some PC news have inspired a new generation of online satirist s-- these guys call themselves P o box they post sketches on Facebook the most popular ones get five thousand hits in an hour Zimbabwe may be poor but there are more mobile phones here than people I would like to greet all of you who are gathered here in pale boxes latest clip their character mayor bootie C talks about plowing money back to the people in the history of politics plowing Becky to the people can only be done by people like me they've invited me along to watch them rehearsing some new member TC sketches here he is promising jobs after the election in return for votes and after marriage she did it after after the election he folks them off hey busy busy P o box tell me they don't go as far as Sam BC News we are yes careful yeah yeah yeah yeah so since you have to be careful about offending people individuals authorities and societies when you cross this boundary something goes wrong you know I'd I'd rethink that would behave that would be satire of was there will be anything to laugh about some busy news there breathe yeah they do comedy images straight to the point which is something we as pure bugs and - not really - yeah we know them we know them you for nothing but we don't know at this stage but people know about life after there's nothing cautious about this zambezi new sketch one Zimbabwean elections is your secret my vote ha I sold it auction it to the highest bidder no contest winner twice borders five borders if you alive in the 2013 general election magar beats a new PF party swept to power with the two-thirds majority there are allegations of electoral fraud today there are some tricky decisions to be made in the zambezi news offices in a week's time they're having a live show to launch their new series there's the question of whether to get police clearance for the event do you know any neat police clearance for an event like this technically there would be no point in us getting kicked that kind of clearance wasn't busy news because one would be notifying the cost that we're doing it and two it's obviously gonna be political references yeah they wouldn't expect a venue like that to host an event like this so one theme for the new series is a significant change in Zimbabwe foreign relations the EU has just lifted its ban on aid I know most of you are skeptical as to where this money will go as most money's that you have given to my country have gone unaccounted for I agree some of it might have been diverted to cover weddings and such but these event of national importance to ensure and encourage accountability the billion dollars shall be deposited into my personal account and I will personally account for everything with no chance of getting on state-run TV Zambezi news have to try other ways to get viewers as well as the Internet they distribute their material on DVDs today they're hitting the road to hand out a new batch in a town three hours from Ferrari despite the poverty in the area mcGarvie is still popular these areas out in the countryside this is where zanu-pf have their best yeah what does that mean for you then it means these are the areas that information needs to infiltrate and disseminate yeah because I mean a lot of information is like I mean with the propaganda machine like they get to believe this false reality there that they give it so this need to just break that you know we're heading for an independent community radio station in a town called quake way except this station doesn't broadcast the government won't give them a license so instead they record their programs onto CDs and hand them out to be played in bars hospitals and buses as promised you brought you some new semester news DVDs but 250 DVDs here of season 2 and all the DVDs were confiscated for the guys who came in first got a few copies yeah they tell me the police regularly raid stations like theirs to make sure they're not secretly broadcasting how many times have you device twice years second time they even went up the ceiling day to check our calls because to live with some wires which go into the city of course the transmission was but they are not connected to any way so they told probably we have some kind of transmitter in the city actually they found it nothing and they might argue that was already buried custom but we are not those were not lying some PC news finish off the visit with an impromptu weather forecast the station's next program tonight is looking a packet cloudy practically shiny of course the rainfall would not be joining us due to the sanctions that the European Union has imposed in our nation [Music] back in Harare President Mugabe is about to provide the Zambezi team with new material here's how state media covered the story is back home from Addis Ababa Ethiopia where he attended the 24th African Union heads of state summit which elected him as the new chair of the 54 member continental body it was met at they are an international airport by thousands of zanu-pf supporters who came to welcome him after fruitful AU summit but here's what state TV didn't show Mugabi misses his step and falls to his knees security guards tried to suppress this footage even taking tapes out of journalists cameras but they didn't get them all their heavy-handed attempts just fueled the story next day the news was everywhere and Twitter was flooded with photoshopped images tonight Zambezi News launch show has coincided with the biggest Mugabe story for months they're trying to work Maga bees fall into their performance without being arrested can we please ask our esteemed guests to please watch out for the carpets when walking into the cinema it's proved a difficult procedure for some of our older VIPs recently feel ready yeah every time we do a live performance like I'm always gauging how much you can get away with like that those lines I'm just like man what what's the audience reaction gonna be for this one we've heard the Secret Service or CIO are trying to stop the mcgarvey Falls image from spreading any further expecting any CIO agents today right there is there tension around yeah it's the unsaid joke that's circulating you know and it's like maybe waiting for the first person to come out and say it who's gonna say it in public cause everyone right now saying is I'm a Twitter yeah it's like you know so we'll break the joke yeah yes yes make an example of people that make fun of the president yes proceed to cinema for biscuit then make them fall down the escalator [Music] and then there's a sign that the authorities are on the alert it's about four hours before the launch of Zambezi News season 3 and I've just had a panicked phone call from the guys telling me that they need to meet me in a secret location and tell me a bit more about what's happening tonight from our sources that you can be doing the screaming today have you got clearance they've decided to go ahead with the show but they think my presence as a foreigner might make the consequences of a raid worse yeah from from our discussions with the lawyers they were saying that it's not it's not safe for you to be at the lodge today it could well be that they come through there and either try and shut it down and or arrest yourselves I don't yeah and us and you've already gone pretty far and then where's the limit this is just one little niche in what we want to achieve just one axe hitting the tree until that tree falls I mean it's like but not seeing that bigger picture I just focus on this one thing what impact it can have we arranged for the event to be filmed zambezi teams gamble paid off there was no police raid and a huge show of support with friends like P o box turning up to first would like to thank the police and CIO for checking in with us this morning is the event just going ahead as you can see on to other housekeeping events other housekeeping please can our steam guests please mind the carpet while walking down it's been a difficult procedure for some of our older VIPs recently Madhab has also been breaking it and his wife has opened up a wildlife sanctuary for rabbit zebras where tourists can come and watch the ancient African tradition of innocent animals chasing cheeky villagers gets the freshest Toto get the profits well the vid comes from is none of your business by the way it's a done it and quite chewy [Music] the latest series of Zambezi news is now available online and so far there's been no comeback for the team but they're acutely aware that their new freedom may only last as long as Mugabe himself when his successor emerges all bets are off now it is over and out from us a news desk with the news on the desk dan good night thank you very much I enjoy Jeremy's been Mondavi I am still Monday and that's the actual music coming in right now the music [Music] thanks for watching this classic unreported world episode click the logo to subscribe for more award-winning documentaries from the unreported world team we upload videos every Wednesday and Sunday keeping you up-to-date with content from all over the world [Music]

Channel: Unreported World

Views: 27,578

Rating: 4.8911567 out of 5

Keywords: mugabe, robert mugabe, preisdent robert mugabe, grace mugabe, zimbabwe, zimbabwe president, president mugabe, mugabefalls, mugabe falls, comics, satire, comedy, satire in zimbabwe, seyi rhodes, unreported world mugabe, unreported world satire in zimbabwe, twitter mugabe falls, unreported world, channel 4 unreported world, channel 4

Id: 8R1XbicnwZE

Length: 23min 32sec (1412 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 04 2018