Tannie Evita gs in search of Option B in viral Nando s video

A 2009 YouTube clip from featuring Pieter-Dirk Uys's popular satirical alter-ego, Evita Bezuidenhout, has resurfaced and is making rounds on the internet in the run-up to the 2014 elections.

The ad, fronting as an endorsement for the South African restaurant chain Nando's, shows Evita Bezuidenhout expressing dismay at the lack of menu options offered by Nando's. Evita, stuck between option A and option C on the menu, ponders why there is only A and C to choose from alluding to the name of South Africa's ruling political party. What about option B? says Evita, I mean, we all know you can't just have A and C.

Having poked fun at the ANC before, Pieter-Dirk Uys is pleased about the collaboration with Nando's: I've always regarded Nando's as the aangenaaide familie' of satire. Brilliant instant reaction to issues.

He adds that with the resurgence of the clip five years later, the political establishment may with Evita's helping nudge finally have found an option B to offer to the public: What a perfect place for Tannie Evita to stumble into the quicksand where cadres fear to tread. Then there couldn't just be A & C? But now there's also B the red Beret!

The red beret is quickly becoming the widely recognised symbol for Julius Malema s Marxist political movement, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). Malema, who was expelled last year as the leader of the ANC Youth League, had previously been parodied in his own right in yet another politically charged Nando's commercial, also in the run-up to the 2009 general elections.

Nando's is known for stirring public opinion and sparking controversy with its notorious ad campaigns. The company has also ridiculed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in a 2011 ad campaign entitled, Last Dictator Standing . The clip features a Mugabe look-a-like reminiscing about fictitious moments of joy shared with past dictators including Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin (but also making references to P. W. Botha). It was eventually forced to be withdrawn, following threats made against Nando's staff in Zimbabwe.

Pieter-Dirk Uys is celebrated across South Africa for his wit and his activism and, despite an uneasy relationship with the ANC, is regarded as a key public figure in helping to bring democracy to South Africa. He is also a contributor to our publication, TheSouthAfrican.com.

By Sertan Sanderson, 2013

LINK:	http://www.thesouthafrican.com/popular-stories/tannie-evita-goes-in-se...
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