With the army finally on our doorsteps, many people can breathe a sigh of relief and sleep a little bit easier at night.
Comedian Devon Saunders, aka Devdondidit, certainly saw the lighter side of the deployment and last week created a video, called The Army's Survival Guide To The Cape Flats, which went viral within minutes.
By Sunday, the video had been viewed about 316 000 times and shared nearly 10k times.
The video was posted on Thursday morning, literally hours before the army was deployed in Manenberg and Hanover Park.
“I’m always trying to find the funny in our day-to-day lives, (and while it’s no laughing matter) right now our people are dying like flies,” Devon explains.
Dressed in military fatigues, Devon starts out the video: “The army was in Afghanistan and Kazakhstan, but can they staan sterk bene here on the Cape Flats?
He adds: “I don’t know how they will embrace the change, this video is a comedic spin on what they can expect. It’s an exaggerated truth of what happens daily here.”
ALTER EGO: Devon Saunders. Picture: Supplied
The video, shot in Vanguard Estate in Athlone, is three minutes long and gives soldiers tips on how to negotiate “dangers” in the community.
“It’s a video meant for laughs, people shouldn’t take it seriously,” adds Devon.
The video features his alter ego Felicia, as well as his mom Valda Saunders, 63, as an AK47-toting auntie who gets upset about dust getting on her wet laundry.
Soldiers should also not waste bullets on anyone wearing a swirl kous“because everyone mos knows the swirl kous is bulletproof”.
Video gives soldiers tips on how to negotiate “dangers” in the community. Picture: Supplied
Valda says: “I’m glad to assist Devon in these videos, I’ve featured in a few other videos he made and I like being part of them.”
Devon says he gets “about 13%” of his humour from his mother.
Video shot in streets of the Cape Flats. Picture: Supplied
“At my family functions everyone gets roasted, my mom is best for these things,” he says.
“This video is not to make coloured people look bad, but we are who we are; the way we do things might not be pleasing to South Africa, but we need to embrace it.”