Parliament has closed for the year but ministers would do well to heed the advice of comedians on how to improve service delivery in 2011.

Ndumiso Lindi said he hoped President Jacob Zuma's cabinet reshuffle earlier this year would produce results in the long-run.

"I hope our new sports guy [Fikile Mbalula] is comfortable in his new position . what with moving from being the serious guy [deputy minister of police] to trying to be a coach. I hope he's settled and doesn't confuse chasing criminals with chasing medals - though we need his enthusiasm," Lindi said.

Barry "The Cousin" Hilton believes that every minister should be fired: "Perhaps all the ministers should join the Cuban military for five years and leave us to run this country alone."

But, to Chris Forrest, all our leaders are pantomime artists and 2011 will be the year when the masks are finally removed.

"I'm pretty sure Julius Malema is going to take off his mask and we'll all see that it has been Leon Schuster all along, and he'll say: 'I'm only joking'.

"I think Zuma and Steve Hofmeyr are going to do mass DNA tests and we'll finally see who's got the most kids."

Xhosa-speaking Nik Rabinowitz seemed to suggest that the current regime had driven former president Thabo Mbeki to insanity: "Maybe we should be nicer to Mbeki in 2011.

"He has to resort to resolving issues that don't concern him. Just the other day he had to resolve a dispute between a cat and a dog around the corner from his house."

Lindi encouraged leaders to "keep it that way" when asked whether he thought they should all develop a sense of humour.

"The more serious they are, the funnier they are. I mean, when did Bheki Cele become famous? He talks about tattoos and monkeys lately. Wow!"

Well over 100 comedians have signed up for the inaugural Comics Choice Awards at the Teatro at Montecasino, on January 22.