They say the emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and this week in parliament President Jacob Zuma provided the nation with a modern-day version of this classical allegory of wilful neglect. "I don't know how to stop my laughter, is it hurting? No," said Zuma, who came to power more for singing his trademark Umshini Wam'than for any obvious attribute as a leader.He giggled and laughed and chortled his way through his appearance in the National Assembly, where he had come ostensibly to deal with matters of national import.story_article_left1So frustrated were MPs that it was the EFF - itself often the source of considerable mirth - which seemed for once to speak for them all when its MP Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said: "Speaker, we must be taken seriously.The president answers a question, says absolutely nothing, and then he laughs. It means our questions are jokes here. I've been telling him, this is not Trevor Noah's show."Perhaps it's understandable Zuma should feel jittery upon returning to the National Assembly for his final appearance of the year at a venue that has been the scene of big humiliations.But he has shown in other spheres - notably Nkandla - that he is largely impervious to public sentiment, so big-stage nerves alone cannot explain his mirth.As a nation, may we have the temerity to ask, then, just what it is that he finds so very funny?It surely cannot be the fact that under Zuma's administration, the standard of probity in public life has plummeted, leaving our state-owned enterprises in a state of disarray.Not the least of these is SAA, where chairwoman Dudu Myeni, to whom he is said to be close, has become a one-woman wrecking ball.Surely, he can't find that very funny?story_article_right2And it can't be that he is presiding over an economy that has stalled, with red tape and official ineptitude adding to the global headwinds?That's not so funny, is it?The drought? Hardly a reason for mirth.Putting the ANC before South Africa?It is little wonder that a survey this week finds that most South Africans believe Zuma does not take the courts and laws of the country seriously. It found that people believe he has little regard for parliament. Really? Tell us another.There is a time to laugh and a time to cry, and as a country perhaps we could be forgiven for not knowing which is which. But for Zuma to treat the nation as if it were an eternal font of humour (and funding) is surely a joke too far.And it's harder to laugh when the joke is on us...