The show

ZANews is a satirical tv puppet show that takes a clever, irreverent and funny look at our local society and at our world. It is available on the web and, for season 4, on TopOne on TopTV at 9pm on Sundays (with repeats during the week).

ZANEWS was obviously inspired by the cult British television series ‘Spitting Image’, which enjoyed great success during the Conservative-ruled era of the 80s and 90s, and by the French equivalent, ‘Les Guignols’, still a popular television series 25 years after it launched. ZANews is not the the only African satirical puppet show, as our ‘cousins’ from Kenya produce ‘The XYZ Show’.

What all of these shows have in common is that they are all produced locally for a local audience with puppet caricatures of mostly local politicians, celebrities and the everyman with the aim of holding a mirror to their respective societies so that the audience can look, laugh and learn.

ZANews keeps an ear to the ground, bringing our audience a mix of the latest and most controversial current events in a witty and unorthodox way – parodying the formulaic style of media broadcasting in order to remind people that it is possible to engage humorously with societal issues that can often be a source of tension and frustration.

That is the secret to the ongoing ZANews success story –  we laugh at everything (and everyone) and relieve some of the often excessive pressure that builds up within our society.