ANC President Jacob Zuma. PICTURE: ROBERT BOTHA

It seems South Africans will turn any occasion into a drinking experience – if tweets during Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address are anything to go by.

Earlier this week we saw 5FM DJ Gareth Cliff tweet: Excited about #JZStateOfTheNation Drinking game… any suggestions for rules?

I was actually quite surprised when I saw a few of my friends attach their own rules to the game which received its own hashtag – #JZSOTNDrinks

I’m not entirely sure if the game was because the address fell on what is now commonly referred to as Phuza Thursday or, if a drink or 10 would make it more bearable and help getting through this very important and long speech.

The rules seemed to take from Zuma’s charateristics. When he clears his throat, take a shot! When he says ‘Absolutely’, take a shot! When he pushes his glasses up on to the bridge of his nose, take a shot!

This is what some people tweeted:

@Tamz1n
Decided to stay sober for the #JZSOTNDrinks but thanks to @GarethCliff I watched the whole thing! Such a creative idea*** Big up @5fm

@edeni
Thanks @GarethCliff and #JZSOTNDrinks for keeping us ABSOLUTELY entertained and educated at the same time x

@actortumi1
Big up to @GarethCliff I’ve never been interested in the SOTNA until this #JZSOTNDrinks

@Justineweiner
going to watch my first #SOTN speech tonight and couldnt be more excited! Thanks @GarethCliff for making it interesting!

People might think of the game as disrespect, but I think it actually got a whole lot more people to watch the speech, and it also had the South African twitter community engage in politics, something they wouldn’t necessarily have done. And the fact that #sona trended worldwide, doesn’t hurt either.

And whether they’re talking about their hangovers or not this morning, the address is still on people’s minds and a discussion point for the weekend.

P.S. are you having a phuza face Friday?