SATURDAY INTERVIEW

digital space, as well as working on educational projects that are very close to his heart, particularly in the science and literacy fields.

“Having to pay attention to current affairs all the time is tiring; working on children’s illustrations for Nal’ibali (isiXhosa for “here’s the story”), a national reading-for-enjoyment campaign to spark children’s potential through storytelling and reading, the Meerkat comics and science posters, allows me to get into a different head space.”

In his seminal book, What’s So Funny? Under the skin of South African Cartooning, Andy Mason attributes Madam & Eve’s enduring popularity to the fact that the creators play on the stereotypes so typical across the length and breadth of the country – and their attendant absurdity.

Eve gives as good as she gets from Madam but, in Mason’s words, they’re co-dependent and, while from different backgrounds, they have similar common enemies that bind them. Their success is not that their creators try to hide their differences, but rather that they exaggerate their ethnic and cultural differences to such an extent and with such humour.

“Madam & Eve operates as a kind of funfair mirror in which ordinary South Africans can see themselves reflected, but in a distorted way that exaggerates their failings.

“The laughter stimulated by Madam & Eve is often the laughter of recognition, as readers recognise elements of their own behaviour,” writes Mason.

Today, Madam & Eve is a regular feature across Independent Media’s titles. Its publication in the weekly Mail & Guardian was the reason the strip started shifting from ordinary satire to politics.

“They forced the change,” remembers Schacherl. “It became very issue- and politics-driven, like so much about humour and satire these days in SA. Thanks to technology, those issues can now become reflected on a daily basis.

“The media space and logistics have shifted dramatically,” says Schacherl. “It’s changed from photostats and overnight bags to e-mail. We went from working weekly to producing daily. Our deadlines are 11am every morning for our newspapers, but working in the digital space can be even faster.”

It’s not something that he’s too enamoured of. “I don’t like it often, I prefer to let the cartoon ideas stew for a little to make sure we’ve got all the facts, otherwise speculating on insufficient or incomplete information can open us up to being accused of making fake news.”

The one thing they don’t often do is sport. “It’s out of Steve’s remit.”

Francis does a rough script from New York which he scans and sends overnight to Schacherl in his Parkhurst studio; sometimes it’s the other way round and Schacherl takes the lead.

The six- hour time difference often works in their favour creatively, but distance can be a problem, something that Francis tries to overcome by visiting South Africa at least twice a year.

Social media, though, helps them keep in touch with their fan base.

“Because of it, we now get instant feedback. One of the most interesting aspects is that South Africans think we are the only ones with problems. Take potholes, for example, people say to us: ‘Come to Paraguay, Italy or Canada. You think your potholes are bad?’

“The problem is, we often tend to compare ourselves to Switzerland and Sweden – that’s where our expectations are. It’s not real, but that’s South Africa.”