Kiffness refuses to back down

Musician and satirist David Scott – better known as The Kiffness – is at it again with his latest parody of the hit song Jerusalema, titled Julius Malema.

This comes after he found himself in hot water in May for his Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma parody of the SA national anthem.

And he insists he won’t back down despite being labelled a racist for his satirical piece of the national anthem during the national lockdown earlier this year.

“Everyone should be able to express their right to freedom of speech and that is exactly what I will keep on doing it, for as long as I can and it is legal,’’ Scott told The Citizen.

Director at Media Monitoring Africa William Bird said he was made aware of the complaints about Scott’s post on social media about the government and the Covid-19 app, which he claimed was asking for his credit card details.

He may have been joking but it put the government on the back foot, which had to prove the app did not track users and was free.

With regards to Scott’s satire, Bird said although the pieces posted social media, users should ask themselves if the content published online is tasteful and if it is offensive.

He added that, unlike countries like the United States, South Africa does not have a law stopping citizens from using or reproducing a part of the national anthem.

“If you do not like it, do not listen to it.”

He urged social media users to be responsible when exercising their freedom of speech and said if one is offended by content published it should be reported to the relevant departments.

The Dlamini-Zuma parody of anthem left some Twitter users, including Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina and ANC leader Tony Yengeni seeing red.

At the end of May, Scott uploaded his telephonic conversation with Masina, which he recorded.

“Why are you playing with the national anthem? The national anthem is a national symbol of unity for the country,” Masina charged.

“It smacks of racism,” he charged. Scott replied, saying the anthem is a beautiful song and one of his favourite songs.

He said he uses satire, which uses exaggeration and irony, to expose things which people are talking about and use it in an artistic way.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za

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