One of the ways most South Africans' deal with the rife racism in the country has been through finding humour in unfortunate situations, but comedian Lebogang Tlokana, popularly known as Funny Chef, has explained why she doesn't think there's anything funny in racism.
Speaking to TshisaLIVE in an exclusive interview, Lebogang said she has experienced racism incident first hand multiple times and didn't think it was funny.
"Racism pisses me off so much. You must remember, I went to an Afrikaans school where I was the only black female. I experienced racism first hand. My parents thought they were doing something good, but everyday I had to fight to fit in. And to be honest, you never really fit in with white people who are determined not to allow you in. Even when they act like they like you, they usually don't."
The blossoming comedian explained that she understood that her parents wanted her to get a "better" education and that even though she had horrible racist incidents, she couldn't blame her parents.
"I experienced verbal attacks and subtle racism. You know, things like how they would insist on calling me Lebo-GANG, despite, at times, really knowing how to pronounce my name."
Lebogang said she had a plan to insert more serious topics in her comedy but admitted that while trying it out, she saw that it would take some work to get people to notice.
The chef explained that her first attempt at posting a video that addressed a racist incident hadn't gone as planned.
"There is a plan. I want upload more focused comedy as time goes by. It's funny that people will laugh at everything, including matters that should be taken just a tad more seriously. I want to use my comedy skits not only to make people laugh but shed light on things that need to be addressed, like racism or the land."
Watch her in action:
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