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| Fighting fear with humour
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Pieter-Dirk Uys in Berlin
Photo: CHRISTIAN LIETZMANN
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Leading South African satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys, captivated Berlin audiences in January with his show “Foreign Aids” that looks at South Africa’s Aids epidemic.
“Aids is devastating,” Uys told an exclusive audience of politicians, diplomats and ambassadors, at a special Commerzbank presentation, in Berlin.
“The problem is that we have let aids get out of control. We have lost control […] and it is high time for us to take charge of our lives again, so that the HIV virus will not get the better of us,” Uys said.
Uys stressed that “fear is the main reason that bad things happen”.
“[T]he problem does not go away by refusing to stare it in the face. Refusal to look a threat in the eyes because one fears it will not make the problem disappear. In fact, like many historical events, ignoring things we think are terrible only makes the problem bigger.”
The son of a German-Jewish mother and Calvinist Afrikaaner father, Uys jokes that he is descended of “both ‘chosen’ peoples”.
Uys’ mother was a concert pianist in Berlin who emigrated to South Africa in 1936 after she lost the right to perform in public because she was Jewish.
“Perhaps the craziness of the Nazi regime would have blown over had people in Germany not hidden their faces from a the terrible things that were happening here.”
Politically critical
Uys grew up “privileged and white” in a South Africa tainted by racist policies. Uys’ father was a member of one of the ruling political families. “I am sure that this was one of the reasons that I was able to get away with many politically critical punch lines that have been a hallmark of my shows,” he said.
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Pieter-Dirk Uys
Photo: CHRISTIAN LIETZMANN | “Another reason that the government had a hard time censoring me was because most of my skits were written by them. They just did not know it. Since I saved my punch lines in my head the censor board had no paper on which to blacken out what I would be about to say,” he explained
Uys found a method for combating injustice, taking over where governments have failed. “Fighting fear and political madness with humor has been my way of life since the 1970s.”
Every political figure in South Africa, the Apartheid leaders, Nelson Mandela and current president Thabo Mbeki have learned to laugh at the humour that Uys has developed at their cost.
Breaking through taboos
For the most part, Uys presents his “Foreign Aid” show to schools throughout the region “for free”. He dresses up in the different roles he portrays. Some of these roles are of imaginary figures, some in drag.
 I am sure that this was one of the reasons that I was able to get away with many politically critical punch lines that have been a hallmark of my shows
| “I tell the kids what Aids is all about. I do not paint a pretty picture of it – and I use images and graphic language that children understand and can relate to – regardless if these are considered taboo within the walls of the schools. But if we do not speak a language we all understand, then we will never be able to adequately spread an effective message.”
“My message is that children, our future generations, take charge of their own lives. If they have aids, then they should do what they need to do to live with it, or even to die with it, in dignity. If they do not have it, then they should know what they need to do to avoid it.”
“The first step to bettering the quality of life for our future generations is to teach them to fight the fear.”
Uys also performed his “Foreign Aids” show at Berlin’s Jewish Museum – because the message is fighting fear and fear was the reason he was born in South Africa in the first place.
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