Saturday, March 15, 2025

Did You Notice The Ironic Mistake In Those ‘Hands Off Zuma’ Shirts?

Over the weekend, the former president's supporters descended on Nkandla. There was marching, singing, and one deeply ironic printing error.

[imagesource: Ilanga / TimesLIVE]

As I write this, the Pietermaritzburg High Court is hearing an urgent application from Jacob Zuma’s legal team to stay the execution of his arrest.

If you’re so inclined, you can follow that news as it breaks here.

Putting all of those legal battles to the side (it’s already tiresome and there’s much more to come), there’s no doubting that the former president maintains a sizeable support base.

Just look at the turnout at Nkandla this past weekend for proof of that.

Some of those in attendance have adopted ‘Hands off Zuma’ as a slogan, with t-shirts to boot, and there’s a #handsoffzuma hashtag on social media as well.

Mistakes happen, especially in a language that is probably not your mother tongue, but before printing your t-shirts, maybe ask for a second opinion.

As The Citizen points out, that didn’t happen in this case, leading to a rather ironic typo:

Yes, that is almost precisely where I would imagine the hand of Zuma would appear.

The irony has been widely pointed out, “given Zuma’s fecundity and numerous sexual partners over the years”.

Perhaps the ANC will start flogging them online, alongside those fake Louis Vuitton caps.

A few other angles to consider:

It’s not the first time such a blunder has been made, with this image from 2018:

Image: Twitter / @Aziwe08692789

Hands of Zuma – for years, to be found deep inside South Africa’s cookie jar.

[source:citizen]