South African exceptionalism can get a little tiring, but it is genuinely hard to think of many other countries where politicians from across the ideological divide can casually plan tea parties with each other via Twitter. This week, Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema tweeted: “@PresJGZuma can we please have tea urgently?” His potential date is, of course, former president Jacob Zuma, who is threatening to defy a Constitutional Court ruling compelling him to appear before the state capture commission of inquiry. Zuma obviously likes tea, or Malema – or both; so he responded with a warm invitation to his Nkandla homestead. We’d love to be a fly on the wall, as would veteran journalist Sophie Mokoena, who wasted no time asking: “Is the media allowed?” Malema’s reply? “Nope.” Then former DA leader Mmusi Maimane scampered in from stage left, sharing a photo that made it look like he was grimacing at Malema’s original tweet. There’s a lot to grimace about, as Maimane’s tweet made clear, but it is pretty good to know our politicians still favour tea at dusk rather than guns drawn at dawn. For now. 

This brief was originally published in The Wrap here.

Sign up here to receive our weekly news summary every Thursday.

+ posts