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“It feels like I haven’t stopped working and I say that in a very good sort of like pat-in-the-back sort of way," Mokgadi said.
Mokgadi is a triple nominee at this year’s Savanna Comics’ Choice Comedy Awards. Picture: kgcomic/Instagram
Comedian and actor Kagiso ‘KG’ Mokgadi is one of the most relaxed people you will encounter.
He is so laid-back that one might even confuse him for a lazy person because of his ordinary appearance of the dude next door.
Mokgadi’s look is so unassuming that he was roped into playing the role of Billy Mathabathe in the local film Matwetwe in 2017.
In the film, he portrayed a local guy from the neighbourhood whose life has withered because of life’s toll.
“I grew up in Mabopane; I know a dude like that – I was like, ‘I’ll channel this dude.’ I think there’s a bit of me [in] there because the writers saw it,” Mokgadi told The Citizen.
“I think, in the main, people think I’m chilled… I want people to think I’m chilled, because I am. Even when I’m working, I’m chilled. I try not to take myself and my points of view very seriously, and I want it to come through in the comedy as well.”
Mokgadi is a triple nominee at this year’s Savanna Comics’ Choice Comedy Awards in the Sauce of the Year, Headliner of the Year and Comedian of the Year Award categories. He is also a cast member in the live show.
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Comic’s awards
He says it feels weird knowing he is nominated for three of the night’s most significant awards.
“It’s still weird because you do the work, and you don’t think about awards… And then awards season comes, and you wonder if you’ve done enough work for the award. I think I only start thinking about awards on the day of the announcement,” he says.
Mokgadi put in enough work over the years.
Some of his performances include The Jive Funny Festival Cape Town and London, Keeping You In Stitches with Riaad Moosa, and The Marc Lottering Roadshow. He has also been featured in David Kau’s Blacks Only Comedy Show.
“To be in those categories is something I have to savour every single time. I’m happy that my colleagues think I deserve to be there,” he said modestly.
Mokgadi is a two-time Comic’s Choice Awards winner. His first came in 2014 in the Breakthrough Act award, and then he won the Best Solo Show award in 2023.
“It feels like I haven’t stopped working, and I say that in a very good, sort of like, pat-on-the-back sort of way. I did not win the breakthrough award and then chill,” shared Mokgadi, acknowledging his work output in the last decade.
Over the years, Mokgadi has received nominations in the big categories without finding success. Yet, the work has remained consistent.
“I’m happy that there’s a continuation of work, there’s a body of work – KG has been there and has been consistent; he is reliable,” he says about the contentment he finds in his work, despite no litany of awards to show for it.
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Politically Aweh
Mokgadi hosts the current affairs news show Politically Aweh and says working on the show has made him a better comic.
“What Politically Aweh has done is that it’s made me a little fearless, in terms of this is what I believe,” he said.
He added that he’s now more comfortable expressing his standing on issues that range from tariffs to Palestine.
Together with his team, Mokgadi dissects political, cultural, and social issues each week. “It keeps me in that pocket. The debates we have in the writers’ room,” he shared.
He says his current stand-up special, Weighing In – The Aftermath, is inspired by Politically Aweh. “Weighing In is all politics. All the work that I have done on Politically Aweh has contributed immensely to my current show and to a little of my understanding of South Africa as I see it,” he said.
Mokgadi performed his Weighing-In set at Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in the Western Cape’s Oudtshoorn.
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Political satire on TV
Politically Aweh has won multiple awards, notably a South African Film and Television Award (SAFTA) for Best Online Content. Politically Aweh is broadcast on YouTube.
“This is a product that South Africans love, but if they’re not going to put it on TV, we will live on the internet,” he said about the prospect of Politically Aweh being on national screens.
Compared to the US, where political satire is protected and appreciated through late-night shows that feature comics tearing through some of the day’s politics, South Africa lags behind.
The Late Nite News With Loyiso Gola, which ran from 2010 to 2015, was one show that had a lasting impact because of its run on eNCA.
“South Africa needs more satire. I’m happy that eNCA has got Dan Corder on. A Dan Corder win, for us, is a possibility of other shows being in that space,” averred Mokgadi.
He mentions the success of Gola and Trevor Noah’s Tonight with Trevor Noah as an indicator of the country’s desire for political satire.
“Loyiso Gola got nominated for Emmys… You don’t get nominated when people in your country hate you.”
“Political satire is not new to us. The fact that it’s not on TV is pretty weird. We wish we had more of it… What is crazy is that South Africa is a very political country,” he said.
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