The Showmax Roast of Helen Zille: ‘Everyone brought their A-game!’
The Showmax Roast of Helen Zille starts streaming on Showmax today (Friday, 16 May).
P atricia de Lille and Hellen Zille at the Comedy Central roast on Friday 2 May 2025. Picture: Katlego Jiyane/EWN.
702’s Bongani Bingwa speaks with Stuart Taylor, Creative Director of the Laugh Africa Comedy Festival.
Listen below:
South Africans love a good laugh, and what better way to get that than through a roast of one of our public figures.
At this year’s Laugh Africa Comedy Festival from 2-4 May, Helen Zille was in the spotlight as the subject of Showmax’s hilarious roast.
“The roast of Helen Zille was something special. It was spectacular. Every single person on the panel brought their A-game.”
- Stuart Taylor, Creative Director - Laugh Africa Comedy Festival
The roasters included some of South Africa’s funniest faces, and Bingwa even got a few jabs in.
Taylor says he did not expect Zille to volunteer to be roasted, but she was surprisingly excited to participate when he asked.
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“She shot back a WhatsApp immediately saying, ‘I’m roasted every day on X, why wouldn’t I do this? Let’s go!'”
- Stuart Taylor, Creative Director - Laugh Africa Comedy Festival
You can catch the roast on Showmax from today.
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview for more.