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Cartoonist attacked for satirical view of South African president
By Tony Mcgregor
"This venomous and personal hatred of President Zuma camouflaged as an artistic skill by Zapiro is a sign of disrespect not only to President Zuma, but to the office and the position he occupies in society as the fourth democratically elected Head of State." So reads a statement by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) about the latest cartoon by Zapiro (real name Jonathan Shapiro) which was published recently in the weekly tabloid the Mail and Guardian. The cartoon shows Zuma with two people who have applied for presidential pardons - fraudster Schabir Shaik, who was Zuma's financial advisor before being found guilty of corruption, and apartheid operative Eugene de Kok, who is serving life sentences for his part in the multiple murders of anti-apartehid activists prior to 1994. This is not the first time that Zapiro has been criticised for his depictions of President Jacob Zuma – before Zuma was elected there was a huge row about a cartoon which showed him seemingly about to rape Lady Justice. This was a reference to his earlier trial for rape (for which he was acquitted) and his attempts to block the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from prosecuting him on a long list of charges ranging form corruption to money laundering. The charges have subsequently been dropped, amid great controversy. Zapiro is no stranger to controversy and is described by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu as having “the sharpest of nibs.” Zapiro is no respecter of people in power, having made some very hard-hitting cartoons of many politicians of all stripes. In his introduction to one of Zapiro's collections of cartoons, Tutu, himself a frequent target of “the sharpest of nibs”, wrote “We are really fortunate to have you around to help us laugh at ourselves and at times cry inside when what you are depicting comes rather close to the bone of our unrealised dreams.” In an opinion piece in another newspaper Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, political advisor to the Parliamentary leader of opposition party Cope, wrote: “:The day we tell writers, opinion makers, artists and intellectuals in general to be 'tempered', 'toned down' and mollycoddled', especially towards paid public servants, is the day we start on an irreversible assault on freedom of expression.” “Citizens like Zapiro,” he continued, “must be given the space to sharply point out the dark side of society and be protected by our courts from the powerful in society who have become so self-important that they can't even have fun poked at them nor can they stand even the mildest of criticisms.” Freedom of expression means just that, and should not be limited by the inflated egos of politicians or anyone else.
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Contributor's Note
The showerhead shown in the cartoon refers to President Zuma's statement in his rape trial that after having sex with a woman known to be HIV positive he had taken a shower as he had heard that would prevent him becoming positive.
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The "offending" cartoon
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Great intel, Tony.
Freedoms all come at a price, but we can't stop fighting for them.
Best to you and thank you for sharing.
Frederick
Interesting. Where does the skull in your picture fit into the controversy?
I do find the cartoon in question offensive as I find anything rape related is not somemthing that should be joked about, but do agree that freedom of expression should not be limited. Thanks for the intel, very informative
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