(Susan Njanji’s article appeared on AFP 12/26; via the Drudge Report.)
Johannesburg (AFP) – Race relations are still a touchy subject in South Africa, but edgy jokes in comedy clubs release bottled-up social tension and trigger gales of laughter from multiracial audiences.
"Apartheid wasn't funny," says Mahlatse Botopela, 24, a black member of the audience at a recent show at a hotel in Krugersdorp near Johannesburg.
But when it is joked about, it helps with the "healing process… it's something you can relate to," she says.
Her white friend, Elizma Hatlen, agrees: laughing about race "helps us to adapt to one another".
http://news.yahoo.com/south-african-comedians-push-boundaries-breaking-race-taboo-040822419.html